Abergele & Pensarn railway station

Abergele & Pensarn National Rail
Welsh: Abergele a Phen-sarn
Location
Place Abergele
Local authority Conwy
Grid reference SH946787
Operations
Station code AGL
Managed by Transport for Wales
Number of platforms 2
DfT category F1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2012/13 Decrease 81,476
2013/14 Decrease 81,152
2014/15 Decrease 73,642
2015/16 Decrease 70,932
2016/17 Decrease 68,632
History
Original company Chester and Holyhead Railway
Pre-grouping London and North Western Railway
1 May 1848 Opened as Abergele
?[1] Renamed
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Abergele & Pensarn from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Abergele & Pensarn railway station on the North Wales Coast Line serves the North Wales town of Abergele. It is located in the coastal suburb of Pensarn.

History

Opened as Abergele by the Chester and Holyhead Railway on 1 May 1848,[1] it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The line then passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

The station in 1962

When Sectorisation was introduced, the station was served by Regional Railways although Intercity Sector trains passed through on their way from London Euston and the Midlands to Holyhead.

The Privatisation of British Railways led to services being provided by Arriva Trains Wales.

The station had been the location of a Camping coach. It was originally served by loops off the main line in both directions, but the eastbound one was removed in the late 1980s and the main line realigned to pass through the platform. However the westbound one remained in use until early 2017 - it was decommissioned over the weekend of 8/9 January. The loop has now been lifted and the platform extended out to reach the remaining main line. A replacement bus service was provided to Rhyl whilst the work was in progress, as westbound trains were not to call until the work was completed.[2] The platform reopened to traffic on 12 March 2017.[3] As part of the same modernisation scheme, the signal box here will be abolished in March 2018, when new colour light signalling is commissioned between Colwyn Bay and Shotton.

Abergele train disaster

On 20 August 1868,[4] the Irish Mail collided with some runaway goods wagons which had been left on the running line between Abergele and Pensarn & Llandulas stations. The accident was, at the time, the worst railway disaster in Britain.

Facilities

The station is now unstaffed and intending passengers must purchase tickets prior to travel or from the conductor on the train. The former ticket office next to platform 2 and the waiting rooms on each side still stand, but are no longer in rail use - waiting shelters are provided for passengers on each platform. Train running information is offered via CIS screens, customer help points and timetable poster boards, along with a payphone on platform 2. Step-free access is available to both platforms via ramps from the road bridge linking them.[5]

Services

The station is served by an hourly service in each direction (weekdays) on the Manchester to Llandudno route operated by Arriva Trains Wales and calling at Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Oxford Road, Newton-le-Willows, Earlestown, Warrington Bank Quay, Runcorn East, Frodsham, Helsby, Chester, Shotton, Flint, Prestatyn, Rhyl, Colwyn Bay, Llandudno Junction, Deganwy and Llandudno.[6] A few services between Crewe/Birmingham International/Cardiff Central and Holyhead also call at peak periods and in the late evening.

On Sundays, the service is provided by Holyhead to Crewe trains, which call hourly each way from late afternoon (only certain trains call during the morning & early afternoon, resulting in sizeable gaps in the timetable).

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Rhyl   Transport for Wales
North Wales Coast Line		   Colwyn Bay

References

  1. 1 2 Butt 1995, p. 12.
  2. ↑ Abergele & Pensarn North Cheshire Rail Users Group website article; Retrieved 11 January 2017
  3. ↑ "Abergele and Pensarn station platform now open following work on £50m North Wales Railway Upgrade Project" Network Rail Media Centre; Retrieved 13 June 2017
  4. ↑ Railway Inspectorate Report to the Board of Trade for the Abergele AccidentRailways Archive; Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  5. ↑ Abergele and Pensarn station facilities National Rail Enquiries
  6. ↑ GB eNRT May 2017 Edition, Table 81

Sources

  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.

Further reading

  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2012). Rhyl to Bangor. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 15-21. ISBN 9781908174154. OCLC 859594415.

Coordinates: 53°17′42″N 3°34′59″W / 53.295°N 3.583°W / 53.295; -3.583

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