Builth Road railway station

Builth Road National Rail
Builth Road station platform looking north, September 2013
Location
Place Builth Wells
Local authority Powys
Coordinates 52°10′08″N 3°25′38″W / 52.1689°N 3.4271°W / 52.1689; -3.4271Coordinates: 52°10′08″N 3°25′38″W / 52.1689°N 3.4271°W / 52.1689; -3.4271
Grid reference SO024532
Operations
Station code BHR
Managed by Arriva Trains Wales
Owned by Network Rail
Number of platforms 1
DfT category F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2012/13 Increase 9,526
2013/14 Decrease 8,340
2014/15 Decrease 8,054
2015/16 Increase 8,244
2016/17 Decrease 7,672
History
Original company Mid Wales Railway (Llechryd) and Central Wales Extension Railway (Builth Road)
1864 Llechryd station opened
1866 Builth Road station opened
1889 Llechryd station renamed Builth Road Low Level
1962 Low Level platforms closed
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Builth Road from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal
High level station in 1967
View of the low level station in 1962
The engine shed at Builth Road in 1962

Builth Road railway station is a station primarily serving the town of Builth Wells, in mid Wales. It is situated on the Heart of Wales Line. The station is just over two miles (about 3.5 km) north of Builth Wells on the A470.

All trains serving the station are operated by Arriva Trains Wales and it is a request stop. There are four trains a day in each direction from Monday to Saturday, and two services on Sundays.[1]

The station uses one of the high level platforms of the former interchange station with the earlier Mid Wales Railway (closed 31 December 1962) which served the town of Builth Wells directly on its route from Cardiff to the North. The original (low level) station did not bear the name "Builth Road", instead being given the name "Llechryd". Builth Road was the name subsequently given to the Central Wales Extension Railway's high level station on the line from Llandrindod Wells to Llandovery that opened in 1866.[2] The Mid-Wales Railway station was eventually renamed Builth Road Low Level in 1889. The two routes crossed immediately south of the High Level station on a girder bridge and were at one time connected by lift.

Both the High and Low Level stations had substantial buildings until the mid-1960s, with High Level also having a goods shed (still in existence) and a running loop to accommodate the banking locomotives employed to assist trains on the 1 in 74 climb up from Llandrindod Wells.[3][4] The former Low Level station buildings also still stand and are now used as the Cambrian Arms public house,[5] whilst those on the remaining active platform at High Level are now used as housing.

During the Royal Welsh Show, Arriva Trains Wales run special services with connecting buses into Builth Wells.

Arrangement of high and low level lines in 1945
Railway bridge spanning the River Wye in the snow.

Facilities

The station is unmanned (like most others on the route) and has no ticket machine, so tickets must be purchased in advance or on the train. There is a standard waiting shelter on the platform, along with a digital CIS display, timetable poster board and customer help point at the station entrance. Level access is provided from the entrance to the platform, with a section raised to assist passengers boarding and alighting.[6]

Terminology

The addition of the word "Road" to the name of the station indicates that the station is not located at Builth, but is some distance away on the road to Builth. Similarly, Gwinear Road, Beaulieu Road.

It is unusual in retaining the term "road": in recent times some such stations have been provided with park and ride facilities and renamed "Parkway", for example Bodmin Parkway. But it is not the only station on the line to retain the "Road" suffix, as the station serving Llanbister retains the name Llanbister Road.

Builth Road
and Builth Wells
Mid-Wales Railway
to Welshpool
Heart of Wales line
to Craven Arms
Builth Road
former low level platform
Heart of Wales line
to Llanelli
Mid-Wales Railway
to Brecon Mount Street
Builth Wells
River Wye

References

  1. ↑ Table 129 National Rail timetable, May 2017
  2. ↑ "Victorian Builth - a New Railway Community" Powys Digital History Project; Retrieved 23 July 2017
  3. ↑ Builth Road High Level (1967) Brooksbank, Ben Geograph.org.uk; Retrieved 23 July 2017
  4. ↑ Body, G. (1983), PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Western Region, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Wellingborough, ISBN 0-85059-546-0, p.48
  5. ↑ Cambrian Arms, Builth Road Halling , Phillip Geograph.org.uk; Retrieved 23 July 2017
  6. ↑ Builth Road station facilities National Rail Enquiries

Further reading

  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2007). Brecon to Newtown. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 56-63. ISBN 9781906008062. OCLC 288983659.
  • Organ, John (2008). Mitchell, Vic, ed. Craven Arms to Llandeilo. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 61-75. ISBN 9781906008352. OCLC 648080889.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Cilmeri   Arriva Trains Wales
Heart of Wales Line		   Llandrindod
Disused railways
Newbridge on Wye
Line and station closed		   Great Western Railway
Mid-Wales Railway		   Builth Wells
Line and station closed
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