Episode 2 of 2

First Rail Traffic

When: 18 March 1850
Where: Britannia Bridge site
Part of: Britannia Bridge opens over the Menai Strait

A single tube opened to rail traffic on 18 March 1850, shortly after the official completion.

Following the structural completion, the bridge began serving its intended purpose. The first section opened to trains, establishing the direct rail connection between Anglesey and the mainland for the Chester and Holyhead Railway.

Sources

Britannia Bridge Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-29

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.