FUMING residents fear their health is being put at risk because of thick acrid smoke from a major railway attraction invading their homes.
According to homeowners in Segontium Terrace in Caernarfon, the “overpowering pollution” is coming from the Welsh Highland Railway’s steam train engines – and they say it is time the operators put a permanent halt to the problem.
Bosses at the railway have told residents various factors – including Russia’s war in Ukraine – mean they can no longer access cleaner coal and are having to rely on supplies from other countries which emit more smoke.
They say they are mixing that coal with smokeless fuel in an attempt to tackle this issue.
But that explanation hasn’t reassured the residents who have voiced health and environmental worries since the problem started two years ago.
Resident Nia Davies Williams explained Segontium Terrace is directly above the railway’s station in Caernarfon.
She said: “This issue has caused considerable concern in our street – people are getting sick. It’s awful, I am really worried about our health.
“The terrace is directly above the Welsh Highland Railway, and for two years now polluted black smoke from the trains has been seeping into our homes as a result of the dirty coal they’re now using.
“We are so concerned about this horrible, acrid smoke coming into our houses.
“You can literally see it floating in the air in the house.
“There is a guy two doors down who has COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and they are very worried.
“His wife opened the windows and put white towels across the windows and by the end of the day she said they were black.
“The railway is for leisure and maybe we should put health first, and maybe they shouldn’t run it if they can’t sort out this problem completely.”
Nia said the railway trip season was due to finish at the end of October except for special Christmas events, but residents were fearful of what next year would bring.
She said: “It will all go quiet and I know how it will be, come June we will be asking again please can the railway do something about this.
“In June 2022 we became very concerned about the quality of smoke and we noticed that we could taste it.
“You daren’t leave the windows open in the summer any more, you just can’t do that anymore.
“If I have the windows open just a little bit, I rush to close them immediately when I hear the train coming.
“We are not going to let it go this time, they really need to do something to stop this.”
Nia said she believed changes to the station and the coal it uses had caused the pollution problems.
She explained: “They built a new station to replace the old one and as part of that they brought the train track further along so it’s directly underneath the houses, it never used to come that far before, so that’s one thing.
“And the coal used to be okay, it was actually nice to see and hear the trains.
“But they started having trouble about two years ago with the supply of coal because of the coal mines in Wales closing, and it is that point I would say that it became a real problem.
“Apparently they have bought this coal from Brazil or Columbia and they do acknowledge themselves that it’s very dirty coal but they don’t have any choice.
“Because of the war involving Russia they can’t get it from there, and there’s no coal anymore in Wales.”
Nia, who has lived on Segontium Terrace for nine years, said she and other residents had been in touch with the rail company with their worries.
She said: “They said they try to mix some smokeless fuel in with the coal to try to reduce the bad quality of the smoke from the coal, but it’s terrible.
“The railway says they will do this and that, and it will be okay but there are clearly health and environmental implications.
“The health side really does worry us, and it’s a shame we have to raise this issue time and again.
“We are afraid of opening any windows for fear of inhaling smoke.
“You have COP26 rules where coal use should be finishing but the heritage railway is exempt from that.
“I think people should look again at the exemption the heritage railway has because if they are getting coal from places like Brazil and Columbia it is a different kind of coal and it’s not good.
“Something really needs to be done to stop this happening again.”
Fellow resident David Keeble said it was time for the railway to be “shamed into taking long-term action”.
Mr Keeble has lived in Segontium Terrace for 20 years and said: “We are one of the few houses on the terrace which has a back garden and we have French doors which go out into the garden.
“If we have the French doors open and the trains are below, the smoke from the burning of coal just fills the house up with this acrid smell.
“They are pretty well sealed but if there’s a slightest chink anywhere, you will smell it.
“It goes right through the entire house, upstairs as well.
“This problem affects our daily lives to a great extent.
“I feel strongly this is a very serious issue for us, we are being polluted essentially by the railway.”
In an email to Nia, the Welsh Highland Railway’s Director and General Manager, Paul Lewin, said: “I am sorry you had to come and say something. I am on the case with this right now.
“If you are wondering what has happened, the Welsh coal mine was closed by Welsh Government. The coal we bought from there was really good and clean burning.
“We now have to import coal and it is more smoky. We don’t know how it will be as it changes a bit on each delivery.
“We are currently buying smokeless fuel and mixing it with the coal to give a cleaner burn. It works most of the time but occasionally a slug of unmixed coal gets through. We tried smokeless fuel on its own but it doesn’t work.
“If you pass our yard at Dinas you will see various huge piles of fuel which we are mixing using a JCB. A bit like mixing the ingredients for a cake on a grand scale.
“I have this morning issued smoke control warnings to all crew members. This week we will try and do some further crew training on better fire management. Whilst I cannot guarantee they will get it perfect every time I am sure we can make some progress.”
