WELSHPOOL & Llanfair Light Railway (WLLR) carried 20,094 paying passengers (excluding Santa and mince pie specials) in 2022. This is down compared with the 21,008 carried in 2019 (pre-Covid and the best comparison of normal operating) – however, traffic revenue (also excluding Christmas trains) was £343,000 compared with takings of £251,000 in 2019.
Early 2022 was still affected by Covid-19 concerns while the cost-of-living crisis had an effect later in the season, as applicable to most heritage railways. WLLR observes that the reduction in visitor numbers is less than the industry norm but its income per passenger has increased by twice the increase in fare price, demonstrating a greater uptake of WLLR’s premium and addon experiences.