Sugar Loaf railway station

Sugar Loaf
Welsh: Dinas y Bwlch
Location
Place	Sugar Loaf Mountain, Llandovery
Local authority	Powys
Coordinates	52°04′55″N 3°41′13″W / 52.082°N 3.687°W / 52.082; -3.687Coordinates: 52°04′55″N 3°41′13″W / 52.082°N 3.687°W / 52.082; -3.687
Grid reference	SN844438
Operations
Station code	SUG
Managed by	Transport for Wales
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	144
2013/14	240
2014/15	110
2015/16	132
2016/17	228
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Sugar Loaf from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Sugar Loaf railway station is a railway station in Powys, Wales, and is the most remote station on the Heart of Wales Line. It is located one mile to the north-east of a small but prominent knoll known as Sugar Loaf, around which the A483 road loops.^[1] The line through here was opened by the Central Wales Extension Railway in 1868; the station was closed to passengers in 1965 but subsequently reopened to traffic in 1984.^[2]

This station is a request stop used mainly by trekkers and cyclists, since it is the nearest stop to the Sugar Loaf vantage point,^[3][4] although it was originally built to serve a number of cottages occupied by railway workers (such as signalmen and track gangers).^[5] The children of the workers travelled by train to school in Llanwrtyd Wells.^[4] South of the station the line reaches the summit at 820 feet (250 m) above sea level and then passes beneath the hills via the 1,001-yard (915 m) Sugar Loaf tunnel, which is approached by gradients as steep as 1 in 60. It then descends steadily for the next 8 ¹⁄₂ miles (13.7 km) down to Llandovery. The climb up to the summit here was a challenging one for train crews in steam days (especially northbound) and the use of banking locomotives was commonplace.

The station sees very few passengers - in 2010/2011 an estimated 84 passengers used the station and in 2014 it was reported that the station was averaging five passengers per month.^[2]

Facilities

The station has basic amenities only - a waiting shelter and timetable poster boards - though it has had a digital CIS display fitted despite its remote location. There is no step-free access available, due to the station entrance being some distance from the nearest road (the A483) along a narrow path and in a cutting.^[6]

Services

All trains serving the station are operated by Transport for Wales. There are four trains a day in each direction (towards Swansea and Shrewsbury) from Monday to Saturday, and two services on Sundays. Being a request stop, passengers have to give a hand signal to the approaching train driver to board or notify the guard when they board that they wish to alight from the train there.

References

Further reading

• Organ, John (2008). Mitchell, Vic, ed. Craven Arms to Llandeilo. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 86-92. ISBN 9781906008352. OCLC 648080889.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Cynghordy		Transport for Wales Heart of Wales Line		Llanwrtyd