Penmaenmawr railway station

Penmaenmawr
Penmaenmawr station in May 2006
Location
Place	Penmaenmawr
Local authority	Conwy
Coordinates	53°16′12″N 3°55′26″W / 53.270°N 3.924°W / 53.270; -3.924Coordinates: 53°16′12″N 3°55′26″W / 53.270°N 3.924°W / 53.270; -3.924
Grid reference	SH718765
Operations
Station code	PMW
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	13,834
2013/14	15,264
2014/15	13,936
2015/16	14,152
2016/17	12,212
History
Key dates	Opened 1848 (1848)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Penmaenmawr from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Penmaenmawr railway station serves the small town of Penmaenmawr, Wales, and is located on the Crewe to Holyhead North Wales Coast Line, 49 ¹⁄₄ miles (79.3 km) west of Chester. The station is a request stop.

History

Aftermath of the Penmaenmawr train crash, 1950)

The local granite quarries are a major source stone aggregate railway traffic especially for road building and railway maintenance purposes. Transfer sidings for this traffic are located next to the station and are controlled from the station signal box. This had to be relocated following a fatal accident at the station in August 1950. Six people were killed when a goods train undertaking shunting operations at the station in the early hours was inadvertently diverted onto the main line, where it collided with the fast-moving eastbound Irish Mail express from Holyhead.^[1][2] The poor view afforded of the sidings from the old box was cited as one of the contributory factors to the accident.

An earlier accident occurred near Penmaenmawr on 12 January 1899 when an express freight train was derailed because a storm had washed away the trackbed. Both locomotive crew were killed.^[3]

Facilities

The station is unstaffed, though it has kept its original Grade-II listed buildings on the westbound platform - these are now used as private residential accommodation.^[4] No ticket machine is provided, so all tickets must be purchased prior to travel or on the train. A waiting shelter is located on the eastbound platform, whilst canopies provide a covered waiting area on the opposite side. Train running information is offered via telephone, digital CIS displays and timetable posters. No level access is available to either platform, as the approach ramps on both sides are steeply graded and the footbridge linking the platforms has steps.^[5]

Services

There are generally two-hourly through train services on weekdays and Saturdays to Holyhead and to Chester via Colwyn Bay, Rhyl, Prestatyn and Flint. Additional trains call during the morning peak and in the late afternoon/early evening. After arrival at Chester, most trains go forward to either Birmingham International or Cardiff Central via Wrexham General, Shrewsbury and Hereford. There are also a few early morning and late evening services to Crewe.^[6]

Sunday services from the station are infrequent (particularly in winter), with sizeable gaps between trains. These mainly run to/from Crewe, though there are also trains to Manchester Piccadilly, Cardiff Central and Wolverhampton in the summer months.

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Conwy		Transport for Wales North Wales Coast Line		Llanfairfechan

Notes

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2012). Rhyl to Bangor. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 81-89. ISBN 9781908174154. OCLC 859594415.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Penmaenmawr railway station.

• Train times and station information for Penmaenmawr railway station from National Rail