Vanished Wales: How Swansea's Mumbles Railway became the world’s first passenger rail service

The bright red trains were once a familiar sight in the city.

It’s a fascinating quiz question: Where in the world was the first ever passenger railway line?

The answer: Swansea. 

It was the Mumbles Railway and it ran for over 150 years. 

Today, many people in Swansea still remember seeing the bright red trains trundling their way from the city centre to Mumbles Pier.

The railway was established by an act of parliament in 1804. When it took its first passengers, three years later, the carriages were drawn by horses.

The very first carriages on the railway were horsedrawn.

Steam powered locomotives arrived in 1877 and the railway really took off.

In the 1920s, the line was electrified and the distinctive red double-decker trains became an intrinsic part of Swansea life.

Tony Cottle rode the railway.  He told ITV’s Vanished Wales: “I went to school on it and it was just a wonderful train. It used to rock and roll. 

“It would run seven days a week, on bank holidays and even when it snowed. It was so much part of the community and was very well-used. 

“It would pass St Helen's Ground and in the summer, when the cricket was on, it used to slow down so passengers could see the result.”

Peter Tremewan road on the railway most days.

It was a five mile journey from Swansea city centre to Mumbles Pier.  Peter Tremewan remembers the route well.

“My memory of the trains is going to sit upstairs, up the rickety stairs, and you had to be very careful,” Peter said. 

“You had the view right around Swansea Bay and from the top deck. It was quite exciting. 

“The other thing I used to like to do, to the irritation of the driver, was to stand right next to his cab looking out of the front window. He used to go nuts! 

“It was the way that we all travelled. At one stage I used to use it every day, so it was a big part of my life. 

“Swansea had the first passenger railway still running. Some parts of the world would have given their teeth to have that, which made it so sad when it closed.”

The railway provided an important public transport link for Swansea Bay.

After serving Swansea for 156 years, the Mumbles Railway was shut down in January 1960.  

The company that ran the railway invested in a fleet of buses instead, which it viewed as more reliable and cheaper to run.

The tracks and the trains were dismantled and the infrastructure disappeared. 

The historic double decker carriages ran from Swansea to Mumbles.

“The horror of losing the railway was terrible,” Tony continued. “They ripped all the rails up and everyone was frantic. 

“People in Mumbles couldn't believe it. The first passenger railway in the world was gone.”

Today, there’s very little left of that historic railway. The old line has been removed and concreted over.

But one of the iconic trains has survived. It’s preserved by Swansea Museum. 

The cab is now preserved at Swansea Museum.

Barry Hughes, the manager of Swansea Museum, said: “Visitors come in here and they often share stories of the Mumbles Railway.

“Stories of playing school rugby on the seafront, seeing the train go by and stopping to wave at the train, disrupting the game!

“A lot of people referred to it as the trên bach: the small train.There's a lot of affection in that term. 

“It's one of those things that's always remembered with fondness in the local psyche. 

“It's about pride, a sense of place. Knowing where we come from. And for the Mumbles Railway, it certainly is something to be proud of. 

“It was a world first.”

You can see more on this story, and many other lost landmarks, in Vanished Wales. Tuesday 25th April at 8pm on ITV Cymru Wales. You can also catch up with the series here.