General information | |||||
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Location | Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd Wales | ||||
Coordinates | 52°59′41″N3°56′18″W / 52.99460°N 3.93838°W | ||||
Grid reference | SH700458 | ||||
Managed by | Transport for Wales Rail (Platform 1) Ffestiniog Railway (Platforms 2 & 3) | ||||
Platforms | 2 narrow gauge / 1 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 | |||||
2019/20 | 24,832 ^ All National Rail only. | ||||
2020/21 | 1,500 | ||||
2021/22 | 17,958 | ||||
2022/23 | 29,810 | ||||
2023/24 | 39,950 | ||||
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Blaenau Ffestiniog railway station serves the slate mining town of Blaenau Ffestiniog,Wales,and is the passenger terminus of the Conwy Valley Line from Llandudno Junction. Transport for Wales Rail operate through services to Llandudno Junction and Llandudno. The station is a joint station with the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway,which operates primarily tourist passenger services to Porthmadog throughout most of the year. A feature of the standard gauge service is the availability on trains and buses of the popular "Gwynedd Red Rover" day ticket.
The standard gauge side has a single platform (Platform 1) opening directly onto the station car park and the High Street. There is a standard gauge run-round loop used by occasional locomotive-hauled charter trains. The narrow gauge side has an island platform (Platforms 2 and 3) with an overall roof;this platform is reached by a footbridge,and also from the standard gauge platform and the town centre by a pedestrian level crossing at the terminal end. Narrow gauge trains normally use Platform 3. There is also a narrow gauge run-round loop.
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]
The evolution of Blaenau's passenger stations was complex,with five different railway companies providing services to the area.
The first railway to be built in Blaenau Ffestiniog was the Festiniog Railway,which opened for slate traffic in 1836. The main line terminated at Dinas to the north west of the town (now buried under the spoil tip) with a branch line from a junction near Glanypwll to Duffws near the town centre. The first passenger trains ran from Porthmadog to Dinas on 6 January 1865 and the passenger station at Duffws opened in January 1866. Until 1870 alternate trains ran to Dinas and Duffws,but by the end of 1870 Dinas passenger station had closed and all passenger services from then on terminated at Duffws.
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.
Meanwhile,the narrow gauge Festiniog and Blaenau Railway had opened from Llan Ffestiniog to Blaenau Ffestiniog on 29 May 1868. Its station was located where the FR foot access gate is now located. The line was initially worked by the Ffestiniog Railway and all slate traffic on the F&BR throughout its existence was carried in FR-owned wagons. The FR station and F&BR station were both called Duffws,although they were several hundred yards apart and passengers walked between the two. On 1 September 1882 the standard gauge Bala Ffestiniog Line reached Llan Ffestiniog from the south. The following year the narrow gauge line was converted to standard gauge,with the station re-opening on 10 September 1883. [6]
In 1879 the London and North Western Railway's (LNWR) Conwy Valley Line from Llandudno Junction became the first standard gauge railway to reach the town. It opened a temporary station near the mouth of Ffestiniog Tunnel,while it established its slate yards at the northern end of Blaenau Ffestiniog and built its passenger station near Glanypwll,across the road from the Ffestiniog Railway (FR). The LNWR and FR co-operated to build parallel stations ("Blaenau Festiniog" by the LNWR and "Stesion Fain" by the FR) to form an interchange. [7] This opened in 1881,and the temporary station at the tunnel mouth closed. The LNWR had built this line in order to seek a share of the Ffestiniog slate traffic (including the slate being carried by coastal steamer from Porthmadog to ports on the Irish Sea and elsewhere). To this end they established a slate wharf at Deganwy;and a feature of early LNWR operation of the line was the carriage of slate in narrow gauge wagons from Blaenau to Deganwy pick-a-back on standard gauge wagons. [8] So highly did the LNWR rate the commercial prospects of Blaenau Ffestiniog that in the 1880s they established their own hotel in the town,now demolished;it features in LNWR publicity of the period.
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 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]
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.
In 1982,with the completion of the rebuilding of the Festiniog Railway back to Blaenau Ffestiniog,the new Ffestiniog Railway/British Rail Joint Station was opened on the site of the Festiniog Railway/GWR Joint Station of 1883. British Rail trains first used the new station on 22 March 1982 and Festiniog Railway services to Blaenau Ffestiniog were resumed on 25 May 1982. [9] [10]
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 George Thomas,Speaker of the House of Commons,who unveiled a plaque at the station recording his visit. The Royal Oakeley Silver Band and the Brythoniaid Male Voice Choir led the celebrations. [11]
In 1990 the temporary wooden buildings on the narrow gauge island platform were replaced with new permanent masonry buildings. As part of these works,the Platform 2 track was laid.
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 Storm Gareth. [12] Network Rail announced on 25 June 2019 that the line would reopen in time for the staging of the National Eisteddfod in Llanrwst, [13] and the line was reopened as scheduled on 24 July 2019.
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]
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 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Transport for Wales | 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 | Great Western Railway Bala Ffestiniog Line 1883-1960 | Manod Line and station closed |
The Ffestiniog Railway is a heritage railway based on 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in narrow-gauge, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park.
The Conwy Valley line is a railway line in north-west Wales. It runs from Llandudno via Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog, and was originally part of the London and North Western Railway, being opened in stages to 1879. The primary purpose of the line was to carry slate from the Ffestiniog quarries to a specially built quay at Deganwy for export by sea. The line also provided goods facilities for the market town of Llanrwst, and via the extensive facilities at Betws-y-Coed on the London to Holyhead A5 turnpike road it served many isolated communities in Snowdonia and also the developing tourist industry. Although only a little over 27 miles (43 km) between Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog, the journey takes over one hour, largely due to the sinuous and steeply graded nature of the route taken. Most of the stations along the line are treated as request stops.
The Festiniog & Blaenau Railway (F&BR) was a narrow gauge railway built in 1868 to connect the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog in Wales with the slate quarries around Tanymanod and the village of Llan Ffestiniog, 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) to the south. At Blaenau Ffestiniog it made a direct connection with the Festiniog Railway (FR) with which it was closely associated during its fifteen-year life. The railway was purchased by the Bala and Festiniog Railway in 1883 and converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge to extend the Bala Ffestiniog line, a branch of the GWR's line from Ruabon to Barmouth.
Minffordd railway station is a pair of adjacent stations on separate lines in Gwynedd, Wales. The mainline station opened as Minfford Junction on 1 August 1872 at the point where the then recently built Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway line from Dovey Junction to Pwllheli passes under the earlier narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway. The latter was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea, and had carried passengers from 1865 onwards. The station was renamed Minffordd in 1890.
The Bala and Festiniog Railway was a 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in, standard gauge, railway backed by the Great Western Railway (GWR) in north-west Wales. It connected Bala with Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Bala Junction railway station was on the Ruabon to Barmouth line in southern Gwynedd, Wales. It closed to passengers on Monday 18 January 1965. Bala Junction was unusual in that it was inaccessible by road and merely served as an interchange station; it was located about ¾ mile to the south-east of the town of Bala.
Festiniog railway station served the village of Llan Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, Wales. This station was one of many 19th century institutions in Wales to be given an anglicised name. Over the years, and especially since the Second World War, most have been rendered into Welsh or given both Welsh and English names, but Festiniog station closed before this happened. The village of Llan Ffestiniog – known locally simply as "Llan" – lies over 3 km south of the larger and more recent Blaenau Ffestiniog, and over three miles south by rail.
Manod railway station served the village of Manod which then stood on the southern edge of Blaenau Ffestiniog in Gwynedd, Wales.
Tan-y-Manod railway station was a railway station approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Blaenau Ffestiniog, in Gwynedd, North Wales.
Bryn-Celynog Halt was an unstaffed solely passenger railway station which served the rural area of Bryn-Celynog, east of Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd, Wales.
Tyddyngwyn railway station was immediately north of the later Manod station in what was then Merionethshire, now Gwynedd, Wales.
Glynllifon Street railway station was a temporary northern terminus station of the Festiniog and Blaenau Railway (F&BR), sited between the street of the same name and Cwmbowydd Road in Blaenau Ffestiniog. It was never named.
Duffws was the Festiniog Railway's (FR) second passenger station in Blaenau Ffestiniog, then in Merionethshire, now in Gwynedd, Wales. This station is not to be confused with the Festiniog and Blaenau Railway's (F&BR) Duffws (F&BR) station which stood some distance away on the opposite side of Church Street. During that station's life from 1868 to 1883 passengers travelling from (say) Festiniog on the F&BR to Tan-y-Bwlch on the Festiniog would walk between the two stations, much as passengers walk between the standard gauge and narrow gauge in modern-day Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Blaenau Ffestiniog (Pantyrafon) was the London and North Western Railway's (LNWR) first passenger station in Blaenau Ffestiniog, then in Merionethshire, now in Gwynedd, Wales. It opened on 22 July 1879 as a temporary structure for use until the company's permanent station opened on 1 April 1881, when the temporary structure closed. It was situated within yards of the southern portal of Ffestiniog Tunnel.
Blaenau Festiniog Junction railway station was the Festiniog Railway (FR)'s third of eventually five passenger stations in Blaenau Ffestiniog, then in Merionethshire, now in Gwynedd, Wales.
Blaenau Ffestiniog North was the London and North Western Railway's (LNWR's) second passenger station in Blaenau Ffestiniog, then in Merionethshire, now in Gwynedd, Wales.
On 10 September 1883, the Bala and Festiniog Railway (B&FR) and the Festiniog Railway (FR) opened what would be known as an interchange station in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Merionethshire, Wales. Merionethshire is now part of the county of Gwynedd.
North west Wales experienced a slate boom in the first half of the nineteenth century. Three sites stood out as experiencing the most explosive growth: Dinorwic near Llanberis, Penrhyn near Bethesda and Blaenau Ffestiniog.
The Merionethshire Railway (MR) was a proposed 1 ft 11+3⁄4 in and 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in dual gauge railway in south Caernarfonshire North Wales, United Kingdom. It was incorporated by an act of Parliament on 29 June 1871. Powers to build the line lapsed in 1885 and were abandoned on 12 July 1887. Work to build the line never started, though parliamentary extensions of time to do so were obtained in 1876, 1879, and 1882.
Diphwys railway station was on the same site as the later Great Western Railway station in the heart of Blaenau Ffestiniog in what was then Merionethshire, now Gwynedd, Wales.