Builth Road railway station is a station primarily serving the town of

Builth Wells Builth Wells (; cy, Llanfair-ym-Muallt) is a market town and community in the county of Powys and historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire), mid Wales, lying at the confluence of rivers Wye and Irfon, in the Welsh (or upper) part of ...

, in

mid Wales Mid Wales ( cy, Canolbarth Cymru or simply ''Y Canolbarth'', meaning "the midlands") or Central Wales refers to a region of Wales, encompassing its midlands, in-between North Wales and South Wales. The Mid Wales Regional Committee of the Senedd ...

. It is on the

Heart of Wales Line The Heart of Wales line ( cy, Llinell Calon Cymru) is a railway line running from Craven Arms in Shropshire to Llanelli in southwest Wales. It serves a number of rural centres, including the nineteenth-century spa towns Llandrindod Wells, Llanga ...

. The station is over two miles (about 3.5 km) northwest of Builth Wells via the

A470 The A470 (also named the Cardiff to Glan Conwy Trunk Road) is a trunk road in Wales. It is the country's longest road at and links the capital Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. While previously one had to navigat ...

, a busy trunk road. The hamlet of Builth Road has developed around the station.

History

The station uses one of the high level platforms of the former interchange station with the earlier

Mid Wales Railway The Mid-Wales Railway was conceived as a trunk route through Wales connecting industrial areas in north west England with sea ports in south west Wales. The company was prevented from reaching its goal by competing proposals in Parliament, and i ...

(closed 31 December 1962) which served the town of

directly on its route from Cardiff to the North. The original (low level) station did not bear the name "Builth Road", instead being given the name "Llechryd". Builth Road was the name subsequently given to the Central Wales Extension Railway's high level station on the line from Llandrindod Wells to Llandovery that opened in 1866. The Mid-Wales Railway station was eventually renamed Builth Road Low Level in 1889. The two routes crossed immediately south of the High Level station on a girder bridge and were at one time connected by lift. Both the High and Low Level stations had substantial buildings until the mid-1960s, with High Level also having a goods shed (still in existence) and a running loop to accommodate the banking locomotives employed to assist trains on the 1 in 74 climb up from Llandrindod Wells. The former Low Level station buildings also still stand and were used as the former Cambrian Arms public house, whilst those on the remaining active platform at High Level are now used as housing.

Facilities

The station is unmanned (like most others on the route) and has no ticket machine, so tickets must be purchased in advance or on the train. There is a standard waiting shelter on the platform, along with a digital CIS display, timetable poster board and customer help point at the station entrance. Level access is provided from the entrance to the platform, with a section raised to assist passengers boarding and alighting.

Services

All trains serving the station are operated by

Transport for Wales Transport for Wales (TfW; cy, Trafnidiaeth Cymru; cy, TrC, label=none) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consi ...

and it is a

request stop In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a stop or station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or dropped off. In this way, st ...

. There are only four trains a day in each direction from Monday to Saturday, and two services on Sundays. During the

Royal Welsh Show The Royal Welsh Show ( cy, Sioe Frenhinol Cymru) is organised by the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, which was formed in 1904. It takes place in July of each year, at Llanelwedd, near Builth Wells, in Powys, Mid Wales. The first show was hel ...

, Transport for Wales run special services with connecting buses to/from the showground on the northern outskirts of Builth Wells.

References

Bibliography

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External links

{{Transport in Powys Railway stations in Powys DfT Category F2 stations Former London and North Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1866 Heart of Wales Line Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail Builth Wells 1866 establishments in Wales Railway request stops in Great Britain