Blaenau Ffestiniog railway station
Blaenau Ffestiniog standard gauge | |
---|---|
Other information | |
Station code | BFF |
Classification | DfT category F1 |
History | |
Original company | Ffestiniog and Blaenau Railway |
Key dates | |
30 May 1868 | Opened as Duffws[1] |
1 November 1882 | Closed[1] |
10 September 1883 | Re-opened and renamed as Blaenau Festiniog[2][1] |
18 June 1951 | Renamed Blaenau Festiniog Central[2] |
4 January 1960 | Closed[2] |
21 March 1982 | Joint British Rail/Ffestiniog station open as Blaenau Ffestiniog Central[3] |
22 March 1982 | Standard gauge (platform 1) opened |
25 May 1982 | Narrow gauge (platform 3) opened |
???? | Renamed Blaenau Ffestiniog[3] |
Passengers | |
2018/19 | 39,102 |
2019/20 | 24,832 ^ All National Rail only. |
2020/21 | 1,500 |
2021/22 | 17,958 |
2022/23 | 29,810 |
Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road |
Blaenau Ffestiniog railway station serves the slate mining town of
Facilities
The
Train running information on the standard gauge side is provided via digital CIS displays, timetable posters, automatic announcements and public telephone. There is a single waiting shelter on the platform and there is step-free access to all three platforms (to the narrow-gauge side via a foot crossing at the south end).[4]
History
The evolution of Blaenau's passenger stations was complex, with five different railway companies providing services to the area.
Ffestiniog Railway
The first railway to be built in Blaenau Ffestiniog was the
An interchange station with the LNWR (known as Stesion Fain) was opened in 1881,[5] and an interchange with the GWR opened in 1883.
In 1931, Duffws closed as a passenger station, and the GWR exchange station became the terminus.
The main Duffws station building survives as a grade 2 listed building, now serving as a public toilet block on the central car park.
Festiniog and Blaenau Railway
Meanwhile, the narrow gauge
Conwy Valley Line
In 1879 the
Bala to Ffestiniog Line
The last major change in the 19th century was the opening of the Great Western Railway line from Bala to Llan Ffestiniog in 1882, followed by the conversion of the Festiniog and Blaenau line to standard gauge in 1883. The Ffestiniog Railway provided an interchange platform adjoining the new GWR station in Blaenau.
Great Western Railway Circular 818 from the General Managers office J. Grierson at Paddington, dated 25 June 1883, stated: "Blaenau" Station on the Bala And Festiniog section will be called "Blaenau Festiniog".
From 1883 until 1930 there were therefore three, four or five railway passenger stations in use in Blaenau Ffestiniog, depending how interchange stations are counted. They were:
- Duffws (FR)- an uncomplicated single station
- The GWR/FR exchange station, a cross-platform interchange
- The co-operating pair of Stesion Fain and the ex-LNWR standard gauge station
Duffws station closed in 1931 and the two remaining FR parts of stations closed at the outbreak of war in 1939. A feature of GWR operation of this line from 1883 to 1945 was the carriage of slate in narrow gauge wagons from Tan-y-manod to Blaenau (about 0.75 mile) pick-a-back on standard gauge wagons.[8]
Post Second World War
Following nationalisation, the LMS (ex-LNWR) station was renamed Blaenau Ffestiniog North and the GWR station became Blaenau Ffestiniog Central. The construction of the Tryweryn reservoir from 1958 brought the closure of the former GWR line to passengers on 2 January 1960 and to freight trains on 27 January 1961. Later, the construction of the Trawsfynydd nuclear power station in 1963 led to the extension of the Conwy Valley line to the Central station site in order to provide rail access to the power station. Passenger services continued to terminate at Blaenau Ffestiniog North.
1982 consolidation
In 1982, with the completion of the rebuilding of the
The former LNWR "North" station on the Conwy Valley line was therefore closed. The FR Stesion Fein was not rebuilt.
The new joint station was officially opened on 30 April 1983 by
Recent history
In 1990 the temporary wooden buildings on the
Plans for another rebuild, and construction of a modern joint station and facilities, were drawn up in 2008, but the project did not receive the required finance.
In March 2019 services were suspended and replaced by buses due to major track and infrastructure damage caused by the flooding associated with
On 9 February 2020 the line was closed again due to further extensive flooding caused by Storm Ciara, with buses replacing trains.[14] Following repairs to the line, it was reopened on 28 September 2020.[15]
Services
This section needs to be updated.(March 2021) |
Transport for Wales Rail operates six southbound arrivals and northbound departures Mondays to Saturdays (approximately every three hours), with four trains each way on Sundays.[16]
The Ffestiniog Railway operates a seasonal service.
Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Conwy Valley Line | Terminus | |||
Heritage railways | ||||
Tanygrisiau | Ffestiniog Railway Porthmadog - Blaenau Ffestiniog |
Terminus | ||
Historical railways | ||||
Terminus | Festiniog and Blaenau Railway 1868-1883 |
Tan-y-Manod Line and station closed | ||
Terminus | Bala Ffestiniog Line 1883-1960
|
Manod Line and station closed |
References
Notes
- ^ a b c Butt 1995, p. 84.
- ^ a b c Butt 1995, p. 36.
- ^ a b Butt 1995, p. 37.
- ^ Blaenau Ffestiniog station facilities National Rail Enquiries
- ^ "Both stations and the original LNWR station in 1950". Newton Abbot Railway Studies.
- OCLC 20417464. (pp 47-88)
- ^ "Both stations and the original LNWR station in 1950". Newton Abbot Railway Studies.
- ^ OCLC 20417464. (p 68)
- ^ News; Festiniog Railway Magazine (FR Society), No.97, Summer 1968 (Return to Blaenau!)
- ^ Shannon & Hillmer 1999, pp. 108–9.
- ^ News; Festiniog Railway Magazine (FR Society), No.101, Summer 1983 (Order! Order!)
- ^ Flood damaged Conwy Valley line could be closed for months itv.com news article 25 March 2019; Retrieved 26 March 2019
- ^ "Flood-hit Conwy Valley line set to reopen next month"ITV News article 25 June 2019; Retrieved 25 June 2019
- ^ "National Rail Enquiries - Future Engineering Works". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "Conwy Valley Line opens after £2.2m flood repairs". BBC, 28 September 2020.
- ^ GB eNRT December 2019 Edition, Table 102 (Network Rail)
Sources
- OCLC 2074549. B1A.
- OCLC 874117875. B1B.
- OL 11956311M.
- Mitchell, Vic; Garraway, Alan (2001). Return to Blaenau 1970-82 (Great Railway Eras). Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 1-90170-664-8.
- Shannon, Paul; Hillmer, John (1999). North Wales (British Railways Past & Present) Part 2. Kettering: Past & Present Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85895-163-1. No 36.
Further reading
- Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1995). Porthmadog to Blaenau. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 115-121. OCLC 877269886.
- Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2010). Bala to Llandudno. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 46-69. OCLC 668198724.
- Bellass, Eddie (June 1982). "Two lines to Blaenau". OCLC 49957965.