Llandudno Great Orme Tramway re-opens for 2026 season!

Each year, Britain’s only funicular - a cable-hauled tramway running on public roads - carries up to 200,000 passengers. This year, it’s expected to make around 8,000 journeys along its scenic route from Victoria Station to Summit Station.

The Great Orme Tramway will do about 8,000 journeys from Victoria Station to the Summit Station this year. (Image: Submitted)

Over the winter, the team carried out extensive maintenance, including refurbishing tramcar bogies and wheels, replacing sleepers and track sections, installing multiple new haulage ropes, and giving the tramcars and station platforms a fresh coat of paint.

Luke Stevenson, Tramway manager, said: “It’s really excited to be back open - it’s always great to see people enjoying our tramway again after all of the maintenance work we put in over winter.

"We’re coming up to the Easter holidays and hopefully we get some sunny weather so that everyone can experience this unique heritage attraction and the Great Orme at its best, but rain or shine we still have the best views in Llandudno."

The tram is open seven days a week from 10am until 6pm (subject to change).

A Storied History

The Tramway climbs a mile (1,500m) through the Great Orme Country Park and Nature Reserve to the Great Orme’s spectacular summit.

The original purpose of the Tramway was to transport passengers, goods, and parcels up and down the Great Orme. Construction began in April 1901, with R White and Son of Widnes supplying the rails, machinery, and tramcars, and Thomas & John Owen of Llandudno handling the building work. The first paying passengers rode the lower section on 31 July 1902, greeted by the Town Band playing God Save The King.

The upper section opened shortly after, drawing visitors from across the country. In its early years, the Tramway even carried coffins to the Halfway Station for burial at St Tudno’s churchyard, with mourners charged full fare plus a fee for the coffin.

Tragedy struck in 1932 when a tramcar on the lower section broke loose from its cable, derailed, and crashed into a stone wall, killing the attendant and a 12-year-old girl, and injuring several passengers. The resulting financial and legal pressures led to a change in ownership, with the line renamed the Great Orme Railway Company Ltd.

The Tramway reopened in 1934 with stricter safety measures, remaining popular and operating throughout the Second World War. Control passed to Llandudno Urban District Council in 1949, and then to Aberconwy County Council in 1974. By 1977, it had reverted to its original name, the Great Orme Tramway, and is now run by Conwy County Borough Council.

Major refurbishments funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the European Union, and the council in the late 1990s and early 2000s preserved the Tramway’s heritage. The new Halfway Station, housing the winding gear, opened in 2001.

More than 120 years on, the Tramway remains as popular as ever, offering visitors the same unique journey enjoyed by Victorian passengers.