Whitland railway station

Whitland

Welsh: Hendy-gwyn ar Daf
National Rail
The station as seen from footbridge (2015)
General information
LocationWhitland, Carmarthenshire
Wales
Coordinates51°49′05″N 4°36′50″W / 51.818°N 4.614°W / 51.818; -4.614
Grid referenceSN198165
Managed byTransport for Wales Rail
Platforms3
Other information
Station codeWTL
ClassificationDfT category F1
History
Original companySouth Wales Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Western Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Key dates
2 January 1854 (1854-01-02)SWR station opened
4 September 1866P&T station opened
August 1869P&T station closed
Passengers
2019/20Decrease 42,158
 Interchange Increase 3,318
2020/21Decrease 7,876
 Interchange Decrease 445
2021/22Increase 29,698
 Interchange Increase 1,610
2022/23Increase 35,350
 Interchange Decrease 1,589
2023/24Increase 38,690
 Interchange Decrease 1,503
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Whitland railway station serves the town of Whitland in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is located on the West Wales Line from Swansea. To the west of the station, a branch line diverges towards Pembroke; the main line continues to Milford Haven and Fishguard Harbour. The Whitland and Cardigan Railway (closed in 1962) diverged from the Fishguard/Milford Haven line 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Whitland.

Passenger services are operated by Transport for Wales Rail, who, as of 2024, mostly use their new Class 197s, and Great Western Railway who run services using Class 800 trains on summer Saturdays from London Paddington to Pembroke Dock.

History

Map from 1952 of the area near Whitland railway station showing the junction between the three lines
Whitland station in August 1971 with a train for Carmarthen

The station was opened by the South Wales Railway on 2 January 1854[1] as part of their route from Cardiff to Haverfordwest and 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]

The services between Fishguard Harbour and Carmarthen (and stations further afield) also call (eight trains per day Mon-Sat, with 1 on Sundays, plus a 6-days-a-week night time service). Summer Saturday Class 800 services between London Paddington and Pembroke Dock also serve Whitland.

Rail and sea corridor to Ireland

Transport for Wales Rail 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.

Preceding station National Rail 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 & Cardigan Railway 		  Llanfalteg Halt
Line and station closed

Facilities

Despite being a once-major junction, the facilities at Whitland station are limited. There are neither toilet nor waiting room facilities available. 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 on board 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. ^ a b 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 MAy 2019 Edition, Table 128
  4. ^ Whitland station facilities National Rail Enquiries; Retrieved 5 April 2017

Media related to Whitland railway station at Wikimedia Commons