Caernarvon railway station was a stop on the former Bangor and Carnarvon Railway between

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom, royal town, Community (Wales), community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the easter ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

and the Menai Suspension Bridge near Bangor,

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. The station was closed to all traffic in January 1972; it has since been demolished and the site redeveloped.

History

The station, which opened on 1 July 1852, was first named Carnarvon.Butt (1995), page 54 The town was originally the terminus of the branch line from Menai Bridge, later becoming part of the Carnarvonshire Railway. In 1864, the Carnarvon and Llanberis Railway extended the branch line from Carnarvon station to Llanberis. A tunnel was constructed just south of the station to carry the new line; it was reopened in 1995 as a road tunnel. By 1871, all three original companies were absorbed into the London and North Western Railway. The station was renamed Caernarvon on 27 March 1926. In December 1964, the lines to and Llanberis were closed under the Beeching Axe. On 5 January 1970, Caernarvon was closed to all services.Butt (1995), page 51 However, following a fire that destroyed the Britannia Bridge over the

Menai Strait The Menai Strait () is a strait which separates the island of Anglesey from Gwynedd, on the mainland of Wales. It is situated between Caernarfon Bay in the south-west and Conwy Bay in the north-east, which are both inlets of the Irish Sea. The s ...

s on 23 May 1970, the branch and goods yard were temporarily reopened for freight traffic until 30 January 1972. The branch line to Caernarvon station was finally closed with the resumption of rail services to

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

and in February 1972. The track was removed and the station was completely demolished.

The site today

A Morrisons supermarket now occupies the site, having been built under the Safeway brand in the late 1980s. It was opened by the mayor of Caernarfon and was acquired by Morrisons in 2004.

Services in Caernarfon

The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) now operates from Caernarfon railway station; it uses the original trackbed of the Carnarvonshire Railway, just south of the tunnel on St Helen's Road and beneath the high retaining walls of Segontium Terrace. Caernarfon Council have a longer-term plan to reinstate the railway link to Bangor. After speculation that the WHR would, at some point in time, be extended to Bangor station, the owner of the WHR (the Ffestiniog Railway) wrote to the council in January 2014 to confirm that they would not themselves be supportive of such a scheme in narrow gauge, but supported the reconnection of the town to the National Rail network using standard gauge.

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * *

External links

The station site on a navigable OS Map, via ''National Library of Scotland''

The station and line, via ''Rail Map Online''

The line BCN with mileages, via ''Railway Codes''

Images of Caernarfon stations, via ''Yahoo''

The station and line, via ''LNWR Society''

Caernarfon station, via ''Disused Stations''

Caernarfon Town Line, via ''Disused Stations''

By DMU from Pwllheli to Amlwch, via ''Huntley Archives''
{{Closed stations Gwynedd Beeching closures in Wales Disused railway stations in Gwynedd History of Caernarfonshire Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1852 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1970 Former London and North Western Railway stations Caernarfon 1852 establishments in Wales