Whitland railway station

Whitland National Rail
Welsh: Hendy-gwyn ar Daf
The station as seen from platform one
Location
Place Whitland
Local authority Carmarthenshire
Coordinates 51°49′05″N 4°36′50″W / 51.818°N 4.614°W / 51.818; -4.614Coordinates: 51°49′05″N 4°36′50″W / 51.818°N 4.614°W / 51.818; -4.614
Grid reference SN198165
Operations
Station code WTL
Managed by Transport for Wales
Number of platforms 3
DfT category F1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2012/13 Increase 55,932
2013/14 Decrease 54,330
2014/15 Increase 54,570
2015/16 Decrease 52,118
2016/17 Decrease 50,932
History
Original company South Wales Railway
Pre-grouping Great Western Railway
Post-grouping Great Western Railway
2 January 1854 (1854-01-02) SWR station opened
4 September 1866 P&T station opened
August 1869 P&T station 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 Whitland from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Whitland railway station serves the town of Whitland in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is located on the main route of the West Wales line from Swansea. To the west of the station, a branch line diverges to Pembroke with the main line continuing to Milford Haven and FishguardHarbour. Formerly, the Whitland and Cardigan Railway (closed in 1962) diverged from the Fishguard/Milford Haven line two miles west of Whitland.

Passenger services are operated by Transport for Wales using a mixture of Class 150, Class 153 and Class 175s, and Great Western Railway who run services using InterCity 125 trains on summer Saturdays from London Paddington to Pembroke Dock.

History

The station was opened by the South Wales Railway on 2 January 1854[1] on their route from Cardiff to Haverfordwest, which was extended to Neyland two years later. A branch line to Milford Haven followed in 1863 and the Pembroke and Tenby Railway (P&T) arrived from Tenby in 1866; their route was built as standard gauge, rather than the SWR's broad gauge, and so initially the P&T had to terminate at its own station next to the main line one, which by now was owned by the Great Western Railway. This separate P&T station had opened on 4 September 1866 and was closed in August 1869.[1] A single line was converted to dual gauge in 1868 to allow P&T trains to reach Carmarthen. Full-through-running trains between the two routes was made possible in 1872 with the conversion of the main line to standard gauge. The network in the area was completed when the Cardigan branch was opened in stages between 1873 and 1886.

From 1957 the station was rebuilt. On the up side it had a ticket hall, waiting room with refreshments, ladies waiting room, toilets, stationmaster's office, district inspector's office, parcels office, central heating, and a 320 ft (98 m) steel and aluminium platform canopy. On the down side it had a 270 ft (82 m) canopy, refreshment room and toilets.[2]

Services

The station has an approximately hourly service (including Sundays) to and from Carmarthen and Swansea eastbound and every two hours westbound to each of Milford Haven and Pembroke Dock. Certain eastbound services continue onwards to Cardiff Central, Hereford and Manchester Piccadilly.[3]

Whitland station in August 1971 with a train for Carmarthen

The services between Fishguard Harbour and Carmarthen (and stations further afield) also call (4 trains per day Mon-Sat, with 1 on Sundays, plus a 7-days-a-week night time service). Summer Saturday InterCity 125 services between London Paddington and Pembroke Dock also serve Whitland.

Rail and sea corridor to Ireland

Transport for Wales boat trains to and from Fishguard Harbour serve the station. These connect with the Stena Line ferry to Rosslare Europort in Ireland with a daily morning and evening service in both directions. This route has been in existence since 1906.

Facilities

Despite being a once-major junction, the facilities at Whitland station are very poor. There are no toilets, nor a waiting room for passengers awaiting a service along the other line to use to take shelter from the wind. The main building located on the eastbound platform once contained a waiting room and ticket office, but is now closed and boarded up (tickets must therefore be purchased onboard the train or prior to travel). Most of this platform is covered by a canopy, and west of the building rusting rails remain in one of the former bay platforms. Across the footbridge, waiting shelters are provided on the westbound platform. There is in fact a serviceable bay platform behind this, accessed from the Pembroke Dock branch, but this is seldom used for passenger trains as services from the branch do not normally terminate at Whitland.

Train running information is provided by timetable posters, digital display screens and a customer help point on each side. Step-free access is available to both operational platforms, though the eastbound one is via a steep ramp.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 249. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  2. ↑ Railway Magazine December 1957 p. 883
  3. ↑ GB eNRT 2016-17 Edition, Table 128
  4. ↑ Whitland station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 5 April 2017
A map from 1952 of the area around Whitland railway station showing the junction between the three lines
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Carmarthen   Transport for Wales
West Wales line - Pembroke branch		   Narberth
  Transport for Wales
West Wales line - Milford Haven and Fishguard branches		   Clunderwen
Carmarthen   Great Western Railway
London - Pembroke		   Saundersfoot Or Narberth
  Historical railways  
St Clears
Line open, station closed		   Great Western Railway
South Wales Railway		   Clunderwen
Line and station open
Disused railways
Terminus   Great Western Railway
Whitland and Cardigan Railway		   Llanfalteg
Line and station closed
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