However, the commercial development of the local mining industry meant that the development of a railway became essential to the region's economic development. A number of schemes were proposed, including one by the LNWR, but it was not until 1 August 1859 that a scheme engineered by Henry Robertson received Royal Assent. The Vale of Llangollen Railway left the Shrewsbury to Chester main line south of , and proceeded as a single track line on a double track route via to the new station at Llangollen. The line opened to freight on 1 December 1861 and to passengers on 2 June 1862 at a temporary terminus on the town's eastern outskirts.