Bangor railway station is a railway station in
Bangor,
Gwynedd
Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...
, operated by
Transport for Wales Rail
Transport for Wales Rail Limited, branded as Transport for Wales and TfW Rail ( and ), is a Welsh publicly owned train operating company, a subsidiary of Transport for Wales (TfW), a Welsh Government-owned company. It commenced operations of t ...
. The station, which is east of
Holyhead
Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...
, is the last mainland
station on the
North Wales Coast line
The North Wales Coast Line ( cy, Llinell Arfordir Gogledd Cymru), also known as the North Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell Gogledd Cymru or cy, label=none, Prif Linell y Gogledd), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire, ...
between
Crewe
Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...
and
Holyhead
Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...
. It is the busiest in terms of passenger numbers in
North Wales
, area_land_km2 = 6,172
, postal_code_type = Postcode
, postal_code = LL, CH, SY
, image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg
, map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...
,
as it serves the community around
Caernarfon
Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is ...
and further west, it is close to the
Snowdonia National Park
Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951.
Name and extent
It was a commonly held belief that the nam ...
and
Bangor University
, former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007)
, image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg
, image_size = 250px
, caption = Arms
...
, and has an interchange with bus services to the various towns and villages of northern/western
Gwynedd
Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...
and
Anglesey
Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
.
History
The station, which cost £6,960 to build (about £21million in 2015), was opened on 1 May 1848 by the
Chester and Holyhead Railway
The Chester and Holyhead Railway was an early railway company conceived to improve transmission of Government dispatches between London and Ireland, as well as ordinary railway objectives. Its construction was hugely expensive, chiefly due to ...
.
Lying between Bangor Tunnel to the east of the station, and Belmont Tunnel to the west, the station was progressively expanded into a
junction station ''Junction station'' usually refers to a railway station situated on or close to a junction where lines to several destinations diverge. The usual minimum is three incoming lines. At a station with platforms running from left to right, the minimum ...
as a number of branch lines were opened:
*From to (
Bangor and Carnarvon Railway
The Bangor and Carnarvon Railway was a railway company promoted to build a branch railway connecting Caernarfon with the main line at Bangor, in north-west Wales. It opened in 1852 as far as Port Dinorwic (now Y Felinheli) and was extended to ...
) (1848)
*From to (
Anglesey Central Railway
The Anglesey Central Railway (Welsh: ''Lein Amlwch'', ''Amlwch Line'') was a standard-gauge railway in Anglesey, Wales, connecting the port of Amlwch and the county town of Llangefni with the North Wales Coast Line at Gaerwen. Built as an i ...
) (1866)
*From to
Red Wharf Bay
Red Wharf Bay, also known as Traeth Coch (Welsh for "red beach"), is a village and a wide sandy bay in the Anglesey Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the east coast of the island of Anglesey in Wales. The bay lies between the villages of Pe ...
and (
Red Wharf Bay branch line
The Red Wharf Bay branch line was a standard gauge railway line in Anglesey, Wales, a branch off the Anglesey Central Railway. It opened fully in 1909, but closed to passengers in September 1930.Richards, Melville: An Atlas of Anglesey, page 99 ...
) (1909)
*To
Bethesda (
Bethesda Branch
The Bethesda branch line was a railway branch line between Bangor and Bethesda in Gwynedd, North Wales. Its primary purpose was to bring quarried slate down to the main line for onward transport.
It opened in July 1884, and a local passenger ...
) (1884)
![Bangor Gwynedd Station and Locomotive Shed 1752254 6d2f5f28](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Bangor_Gwynedd_Station_and_Locomotive_Shed_1752254_6d2f5f28.jpg)
The station was renamed twice under
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
ways: originally ''Bangor'', it became ''Bangor (
Caerns)''; then ''Bangor (Gwynedd)''. In some timetables it was shown as ''Bangor for Beaumaris''.
The present building on platform 1 was the main building, with a forecourt on the site of the present car park. Between 1924 and 1927 an additional loop line and platform were constructed on the site of the forecourt with a new frontage facing Deiniol Road, which is still in use as the station booking office. Ultimately there were four platforms and a small bay platform to serve the main line and branch lines.
By the 1950s there were an extensive goods yard, a five-road
engine shed
The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...
(on the site of the steel mill), a turntable, three-road
goods shed
A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before or after carriage in a train. A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, although sometimes they were built ...
, two signal boxes, an extra footbridge and a subway connecting platforms. There were a total of nine separate through routes from one tunnel to the other.
With the closure of the branch lines in the 1960s and 1970s, the station was reduced to just two operational platforms, with the track and platform on the pre-1920s forecourt converted back to something like its original use.
In November 2009 the Welsh Assembly Government asked Network Rail to conduct a feasibility study on reopening the line between
Llangefni
Llangefni (meaning "church on the River Cefni", ) is the county town of Anglesey in Wales and contains the principal offices of the Isle of Anglesey County Council. United Kingdom Census 2011 recorded Llangefni's population as 5,116 people, maki ...
on Anglesey and Bangor for passenger services. Network Rail was asked to assess the track bed before publishing its report in 2010. Work to clear away 21 years of vegetation began in April 2012. It was confirmed by the Welsh Government in May 2017 that re-opening a station in Llangefni for passenger services using part of the mothballed
Anglesey Central Railway
The Anglesey Central Railway (Welsh: ''Lein Amlwch'', ''Amlwch Line'') was a standard-gauge railway in Anglesey, Wales, connecting the port of Amlwch and the county town of Llangefni with the North Wales Coast Line at Gaerwen. Built as an i ...
line was under consideration, which would connect into the existing main line at Gaerwen.
Present day
The station presently uses two large
island platform
An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
s, each served by
loop lines which diverge from and rejoin the main lines in each direction. The main lines pass between the two operational platforms, and are used for passing empty stock movements, for terminated trains to lay-over awaiting their next working, and freight services, particularly the carriage of
nuclear fuel
Nuclear fuel is material used in nuclear power stations to produce heat to power turbines. Heat is created when nuclear fuel undergoes nuclear fission.
Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile actinide elements that are capable of undergoing ...
flasks to and from
Wylfa
Wylfa nuclear power station ( cy, Atomfa'r Wylfa) is a Magnox nuclear power station undergoing decommissioning. Wylfa is situated west of Cemaes Bay on the island of Anglesey, off the northwestern coast of Wales. Construction of the two 490MW n ...
nuclear power station
A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces elec ...
on Anglesey. At the western end of the station at the mouth of Belmont Tunnel, is a
cross-over
Crossover may refer to:
Entertainment
Albums and songs
* ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album)
* ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987
* ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album)
* ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album)
* ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
between the up main line and the down main line. Diverging from the down main line, also at the western end of the station, are four
sidings; two adjacent to the most southerly platform island, and the other two enclosed within the nearby Network Rail engineering compound. Bangor
signal box
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
, which can be found at the western end of the up-direction platform, is lever-operated and controls the signals, points and
user-worked level crossings as far as
Abergwyngregyn
Abergwyngregyn () is a village and community of historical note in Gwynedd, a county and principal area in Wales. Under its historic name of Aber Garth Celyn it was the seat of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. It lies in the historic county of Caernarfo ...
to the east of Bangor, and
Llanfairpwll
Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, or Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll (), is a large village and local government community on the island of Anglesey, Wales, on the Menai Strait next to the Britannia Bridge and across the strait from Bangor. Both shortened (Llanfa ...
to the west, including the single line crossing the
Britannia Bridge
Britannia Bridge ( cy, Pont Britannia) is a bridge across the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales. It was originally designed and built by the noted railway engineer Robert Stephenson as a tubular bridge of wr ...
between the Welsh mainland and Anglesey.
Facilities
The station is staffed 7 days a week (except Christmas Day and Boxing Day, when there are no train services) by both platform staff, who assist mobility-impaired passengers, dispatch the trains and provide travel advice, and booking office clerks. The platform building houses rail staff offices, passenger toilets and a waiting room, a café, and a
British Transport Police
, nativename =
, abbreviation = BTP
, patch =
, patchcaption =
, logo = British Transport Police Logo.svg
, logocaption = Logo of the British Transport Police
, badge =
, badgecaption =
, f ...
station. Each platform is equipped with an electronic departure screen, and manual announcements are made over a
public address system
A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...
. There are three self-service
ticket vending machines
A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine (TVM), is a vending machine that produces paper or electronic tickets, or recharges a stored-value card or smart card or the user's mobile wallet, typically on a smartphone. For instance, ...
available for passengers to purchase or collect pre-paid tickets. Due to there being ticket purchasing facilities available 24 hours a day, passengers boarding trains here must purchase their tickets before boarding the train.
There are storage racks for bicycles available on or near both platforms.
The whole station is fully accessible for those with mobility impairments. The footbridge is accessed from both platforms by a staircase as well as a lift, as well as a third staircase from the station concourse area outside the booking office. The up-direction (Chester-bound) platform can also be accessed step-free via a ramp from the front car park, accessible off Station Road/Holyhead Road, and the down-direction (Holyhead-bound) platform is accessible step-free through the rear car park, located off Caernarfon Road. An accessible toilet is available on platform 1.
The station has two long stay car parks, to the front and rear of the station. 20 minutes of free parking is available in designated areas for the picking up or dropping off of passengers. The rear car park occupies part of the site of the former carriage sidings.
Free Wi-Fi is provided for waiting passengers on the platforms and the waiting room.
Many local taxi firms operate from the taxi rank located to the rear of the ticket office building, adjacent to platform 1.
Transport for Wales had committed to investing £194 million on upgrades to stations over the first 5 years of their franchise contract. Bangor station can expect to have been fully re-branded with the installation of new digital information screens and CCTV by 2024.
Services
There is a basic hourly service eastbound towards
Wrexham General
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county o ...
and via
Llandudno Junction
Llandudno Junction ( cy, Cyffordd Llandudno), once known as Tremarl, is a village in the county borough of Conwy, Wales. It is part of the ancient parish of Llangystennin, and it is located south of Llandudno. It adjoins Deganwy and is to the ...
,
Colwyn Bay
Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...
,
Rhyl
Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...
,
Prestatyn
Prestatyn is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085,
History Prehistory
There is evidence that the ...
,
Flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...
and
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
, with alternate services extended to
Birmingham International and
Cardiff Central during the daytime, as well as westbound across
Anglesey
Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
to
Holyhead
Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...
.
This hourly service is complemented by several through services to and from
London Euston
Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city rail ...
and Crewe which run to/from Holyhead (except for one service per weekday). On Weekdays, there are four trains per day each way to/from London Euston, as well as an additional service from London to Bangor. There are also two trains per day each way between Crewe and Holyhead, with one of the Holyhead-bound trains starting from Birmingham New Street, as well as a northbound only service from Crewe to Holyhead, and another northbound only service originating from Crewe that terminates here. On Saturdays, there are two northbound services per day between London Euston and Holyhead, and two services from Crewe to Holyhead, with three southbound services from Holyhead to London Euston and one service from Holyhead to Crewe. These services are operated by
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise.
During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...
.In addition there are several early morning & late night trains run by
Transport for Wales Rail
Transport for Wales Rail Limited, branded as Transport for Wales and TfW Rail ( and ), is a Welsh publicly owned train operating company, a subsidiary of Transport for Wales (TfW), a Welsh Government-owned company. It commenced operations of t ...
running to/from Crewe and two trains to and from
Manchester Piccadilly
Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city ...
on weekdays, and one on Saturdays to/from
Manchester Airport
Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those n ...
in the current (May to December 2020) timetable.
Transport for Wales Rail services towards Cardiff are usually operated by
Class 175 diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
trains, with the exception of the ''
Premier Service
The ''Premier Service'' is a passenger train service operated by Transport for Wales Rail between Holyhead and Cardiff in Wales.
History
On 15 December 2008, the ''Premier Service'' commenced operating between Holyhead and Cardiff Central. Ori ...
'' which is operated by a rake of
Mark 4 coaches hauled by a
Class 67 diesel locomotive. Services towards Birmingham International are usually operated by
Class 158 diesel multiple unit trains, allowing them to be coupled with services off the
Cambrian Coast railway line upon arrival at Shrewsbury, to provide additional capacity between Shrewsbury and Birmingham. Another train formed of Mark 3 coaches hauled by a Class 67 locomotive also forms one of the weekday services to and from Manchester Piccadilly. All Avanti West Coast services are operated by
Class 221 ''Super Voyager'' diesel-electric multiple unit trains.
On Sundays the service is hourly each way from mid-morning, but running mainly between Holyhead and
Crewe
Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...
, with select services extended to
Cardiff Central,
Birmingham International and
Manchester Piccadilly
Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city ...
. Avanti West Coast provide three up-direction trains to London Euston on a Sunday, as well as one up-direction train between Crewe and Holyhead, and three down-direction services to Holyhead.
The
PlusBus
Plusbus is an add-on ticket, which can be purchased with National Rail train tickets in the United Kingdom. It allows unlimited travel on participating bus and tram operators' services in the whole urban area of rail-served towns and cities.
...
scheme operates from this station, where for a small additional fee, an add-on bus ticket can be purchased alongside a rail ticket allowing journeys to be made using the services of most of the major bus operators in and around the wider area. This allows easy access by public transport to Ysbyty Gwynedd as well as many of the popular local attractions, such as
Bangor Pier,
Penrhyn Castle
Penrhyn Castle ( cy, Castell Penrhyn) is a country house in Llandygai, Bangor, Gwynedd, North Wales, constructed in the style of a Norman castle. The Penrhyn estate was founded by Ednyfed Fychan. In the 15th century his descendent Gwilym a ...
,
Aber Falls
Aber Falls ( cy, Rhaeadr Fawr) is a waterfall located about two miles (3 km) south of the village of Abergwyngregyn, Gwynedd, Wales.
The waterfall is formed as the plunges about over a sill of igneous rock in the foothills of the range. ...
and
Zip World
Zip World is a Welsh outdoor adventure activity company based in Llanrwst, Wales, United Kingdom. The company operates four sites in Wales, primarily focused on zip lines and outdoor adventure activity courses.
History
Zip World was create ...
in
Penrhyn Quarry
The Penrhyn quarry is a slate quarry located near Bethesda, North Wales. At the end of the nineteenth century it was the world's largest slate quarry; the main pit is nearly long and deep, and it was worked by nearly 3,000 quarrymen. It has ...
, Bethesda, all of which are inside the Bangor PlusBus area. Easy interchange with all local bus services is possible, with many services departing from the bus stops a very short walk away on Holyhead Road.
Future services
By December 2022, Transport for Wales plans to start & terminate its direct services to and from Manchester Airport via Manchester Piccadilly at Bangor. This will be in addition to the current service level, and will be made possible when the new hourly
Llandudno
Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigsi ...
-
Liverpool Lime Street
Liverpool Lime Street is a terminus railway station and the main station serving the city centre of Liverpool. Opened in August 1836, it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. A branch of the West Coast ...
via the
Halton Curve
Halton Curve (now formally known as the Frodsham Single Line) is a short bi-directional railway line which links the Chester–Warrington line to the Weaver Junction–Liverpool line within the borough of Halton, Cheshire. The route, which is ...
services commence. All Transport for Wales services serving Bangor by this time are expected to be operated by new
CAF Civity
The CAF Civity is a platform of regional passenger trains which is manufactured by Spanish rolling stock manufacturer Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles. Available as both diesel, electric and battery-electric multiple unit, the ''Civ ...
diesel multiple-unit trains, except the Holyhead-Cardiff Premier Service which is expected to be operated by refurbished
Mark IV coaches inherited from
LNER LNER may refer to:
* London and North Eastern Railway, a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1923 until 1947
* London North Eastern Railway, a train operating company in the United Kingdom since 2018
* Liquid neutral earthing resistor, a typ ...
, hauled by Class 67 locomotives.
Notes
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
Postcard of Bangor railway station in 1909
{{Authority control
Railway stations in Gwynedd
DfT Category C1 stations
Former London and North Western Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1848
Railway stations served by Avanti West Coast
Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail
Bangor, Gwynedd
Grade II listed buildings in Gwynedd
Grade II listed railway stations in Wales