Llandrindod railway station, south-west of , serves the town of
Llandrindod Wells
Llandrindod Wells (, ; cy, Llandrindod, /ɬanˈdɾindɔd/ "Trinity Parish"), sometimes known colloquially as Llandod, is a town and community in Powys, within the historic boundaries of Radnorshire, Wales. It serves as the seat of Powy ...
in
Mid Wales. The single-track
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, Lla ...
is served by five
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 ...
trains each way on Mondays to Saturdays, two each way on Sundays. The passing line for northbound and southbound trains is used daily. It is the busiest station on the line itself, despite the small number of trains. This causes overcrowding on some trains.
History
The station was opened in 1865, as the terminus of a branch line from
Knighton by the ''Central Wales Railway'' which was absorbed by the
LNWR
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom.
In 1923, it became a constituent of the L ...
soon after completion. Construction of the ''Central Wales Extension Railway'' (another LNWR-backed project) southwards towards
Llandovery
Llandovery (; cy, Llanymddyfri ) is a market town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It lies on the River Tywi and at the junction of the A40 and A483 roads, about north-east of Carmarthen, north of Swansea and west of Brecon.
Hi ...
started soon after and upon completion of this line in 1868 placed the town on a through route between Craven Arms and
Swansea.
The line through the station was singled as an economy measure in the 1960s, although a passing loop was left a short distance to the north, near the town's
level crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...
. However the loop was relocated to the station in 1986 by
British Rail as part of the signalling modernisation scheme that centralised control at
Pantyffynnon. The level crossing was converted to train-crew operation at the same time, whilst the signal box was closed . The redundant No. 2
signal box was relocated to the station in 1990, after closure, and restored to working order as a museum. It stands on the southbound platform and opens to the public at certain times.
The passing-loop point machines were replaced on 22 August 2010 under a £5 million
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
modernisation scheme to renew the points at all five loops on the route.
Facilities
The station has the only staffed ticket office on the line, staffed on a part-time basis. This is sited within the main building on the southbound platform. When the ticket office is closed, tickets may be purchased on the train. There is a waiting room within the buildings on the northbound side and canopies provide a covered waiting area on the southbound side. Digital display screens, customer help points and timetable poster boards are provided on both platforms, which are linked by an accessible ramped footbridge. A pay phone and post box are also provided, but no toilets. The nearest public ones are in Station Crescent.
Llandrindod station facilities
''National Rail Enquiries''; Retrieved 7 April 2017.
Notes
References
*G. Body (1983), ''PSL Field Guides – Railways of the Western Region'', Patrick Stephens Ltd, Wellingborough,
Further reading
*
External links
{{Transport in Powys
Llandrindod Wells
Railway stations in Powys
DfT Category E stations
Former London and North Western Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1865
Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail
Heart of Wales Line