Llandrindod railway station

Railway station in Powys, Wales

52°14′31″N 3°22′44″W / 52.242°N 3.379°W / 52.242; -3.379Grid referenceSO059613Managed byTransport for WalesPlatforms2Other informationStation codeLLOClassificationDfT category EHistoryOpened1865Passengers2018/19Increase 40,6722019/20Decrease 35,8582020/21Decrease 2,4402021/22Increase 18,1522022/23Increase 23,604 Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Llandrindod railway station, 51+3⁄4 miles (83.3 km) south-west of Shrewsbury, serves the town of Llandrindod Wells in Mid Wales. The single-track Heart of Wales Line is served by five Transport for Wales trains each way on Mondays to Saturdays, two each way on Sundays. The passing line for northbound and southbound trains is used daily. It is the busiest station on the line itself, despite the small number of trains.[1] This causes overcrowding on some trains.

History

The station was opened in 1865,[2] as the terminus of a branch line from Knighton by the Central Wales Railway which was absorbed by the LNWR soon after completion. Construction of the Central Wales Extension Railway (another LNWR-backed project) southwards towards Llandovery started soon after and upon completion of this line in 1868 placed the town on a through route between Craven Arms and Swansea.

The line through the station was singled as an economy measure in the 1960s, although a passing loop was left a short distance to the north, near the town's level crossing. However the loop was relocated to the station in 1986 by British Rail as part of the signalling modernisation scheme that centralised control at Pantyffynnon. The level crossing was converted to train-crew operation at the same time, whilst the signal box was closed . The redundant No. 2 signal box was relocated to the station in 1990, after closure, and restored to working order as a museum. It stands on the southbound platform and opens to the public at certain times.[3]

The passing-loop point machines were replaced on 22 August 2010 under a £5 million Network Rail modernisation scheme to renew the points at all five loops on the route.[4]

Facilities

The station has the only staffed ticket office on the line, staffed on a part-time basis. This is sited within the main building on the southbound platform. When the ticket office is closed, tickets may be purchased on the train. There is a waiting room within the buildings on the northbound side and canopies provide a covered waiting area on the southbound side. Digital display screens, customer help points and timetable poster boards are provided on both platforms, which are linked by an accessible ramped footbridge. A pay phone and post box are also provided, but no toilets. The nearest public ones are in Station Crescent.[5]

Notes

  1. ^ Trainline Retrieved 21 August 2020.]
  2. ^ Body, p. 104.
  3. ^ Llandrindod Wells Town Council Home Page - Visitor Attractions Archived 1 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine [www.llandrindod.co.uk; Retrieved 2 March 2009.]
  4. ^ News From the Heart of Wales Line Archived 3 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine [www.heart-of-wales.co.uk news article; Retrieved 2010-11-07.]
  5. ^ Llandrindod station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 7 April 2017.

References

  • G. Body (1983), PSL Field Guides – Railways of the Western Region, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Wellingborough, ISBN 0-85059-546-0

Further reading

  • Organ, John (2008). Mitchell, Vic (ed.). Craven Arms to Llandeilo. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 50–60. ISBN 9781906008352. OCLC 648080889.

External links

Media related to Llandrindod railway station at Wikimedia Commons

  • Train times and station information for Llandrindod railway station from National Rail
Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Builth Road   Transport for Wales
Heart of Wales Line 		  Pen-y-Bont