Despite a public inquiry which ruled against the Welsh Highland Railway project, the Deputy Prime Minister, who is in charge of transport, said in April that he was "minded to approve" the scheme.

Sources say he is now indignant by what he sees as stalling tactics and is ready to make a final decision.

John Prescott may not wait

The plans have angered Sir Chris Bonnington, one of Britain's most famous mountaineers and president of the Council for National Parks,

On a visit to the beautiful Aberglaslyn Pass near Beddgelert, through which the railway may run, Sir Chris said popular footpaths would be lost and 30 farms would be crossed.

The scheme would reopen a line built in the 1920s for steam and diesel engines between Caernarfon and Porthmadog. It was closed in 1937.

The project would be funded partly by a �4.3m Millennium Commission grant.

Mr Prescott said in April he was minded to approve the scheme because of the economic and wider public benefits - including the reduction of traffic in the National Park.

He said his approval was subject to a satisfactory survey on the Aberglaslyn tunnels.

He asked the Festiniog Railway, the company behind the project, to undertake a detailed survey of rock faces around the tunnels.

"It is essential that we know the full implications of the reconstruction of the railway at Aberglaslyn before a final decision is made on the scheme as a whole," he added.

The railway company commissioned an independent survey, but the National Trust and the park authority also employed their own specialist engineers.

Inappropriate

The Snowdonia National Park Authority has since been unable to come to a view on its report.

The National Trust says it would be inappropriate to comment until they received the results of their own report and had time to consider the railway's study.

More than 300 objections were lodged against the railway at a public inquiry in 1997.