We were booked on the morning train of…
We were booked on the morning train of Thursday, 30th April, the day was sunny and clear but windy. We were instructed to arrive by at least an hour beforehand, during which time we viewed a film about the history of the railway, although I believe this should be optional rather than perceived as mandatory. There was some info about Health and Safety which could easily have been passed on to us all whilst on the train, we are not children after all! I do not see why we had to view this film , where we could have just turned up 15 minutes or so before boarding, so a complete waste of time. We were informed that the wind might be too strong and the trip may be cancelled but we were soon on the train and set off on our journey. Roughly half way up we were informed that the wind was "now too gusty at the top" to proceed and that we would return after stopping briefly some half way up. It was stated that a part refund would be made due to this. Well consider this - clearly the wind speed at the upper section of the track must be known beforehand, to decide whether to proceed or not, however if it was cancelled before leaving he station I presume we would all have had a full refund, yet in proceeding to the half way mark the Railway seem to be only obliged to refund a rather small 25% of the sum paid, thus saving themselves an absolute fortune. It could quite possibly be argued that this could be a policy whereby they can save a substantial amount in refunds had the trip been cancelled before leaving the station. Besides, the whole point of taking the train is to go to the summit of Wyddfa and that objective singularly failed. As such the minimal refund does not reflect the loss involved due to cancellation. Indeed, had there been an offer of a half price refund and / or half price ticket for a future date then that would be a welcome, fair and decent procedure to follow. I am sure that many, if not most would then return for another trip, hopefully successful, to the summit of Wyddfa. I have been up the mountains of Snowdonia/ Eryri so many times, in all weathers. This was my first time up (partly) on the train (and the first time ever for my wife) and most probably my last. A most disappointing day out. I think it is a sad way to treat visitors, where some families have spent a considerable amount only to be thoroughly let down.








