Tonfanau railway station is a railway stop that serves

Tonfanau Tonfanau is a coastal village in the community of Llangelynin, in Gwynedd (formerly Merionethshire), Wales. It is north of Tywyn. The village is served by Tonfanau railway station. During the Second World War an army base was created near the ...

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 ...

, Wales. The station is located alongside the ruins of the army base it once served and only a couple of occupied buildings can be found within the surrounding area.

History

The station, which was opened by the

Cambrian Railways The Cambrian Railways owned of track over a large area of mid Wales. The system was an amalgamation of a number of railways that were incorporated in 1864, 1865 and 1904. The Cambrian connected with two larger railways with connections to the ...

, first appeared in Bradshaw in July 1896. Due to the deteriorating condition of the platforms,

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 ...

had considered withdrawing services as from 14 May 1984, but the station was reprieved with minimum maintenance on the grounds of 'educational journeys and the occasional passenger'. The question of closure was revisited by British Rail in the 1990s when it requested the permission of the Secretary of State for Transport to close Tonfanau and three other Cambrian Coast stations (namely Abererch, Llandecwyn and Tygwyn). Their winter 1995/96 timetable featured only one northbound and three southbound trains Mondays to Saturdays, with a note that the service may be withdrawn before 1 June 1996. Permission for the closure was refused and the station structure has had to be upgraded to meet modern standards with a new platform, signage and platform lighting. Unusually, the remote location of the station relative to mains services has led to its lighting being powered by its own miniature wind turbine.

Services

The station is an unstaffed halt on the

Cambrian Coast Railway The Cambrian Line ( cy, Llinell y Cambrian), also known as the Cambrian Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell y Cambrian) and Cambrian Coast Line ( cy, Llinell Arfordir y Cambrian), is a railway line that runs from Shrewsbury, England, westwards to Aber ...

with passenger services to , , Porthmadog and northbound and , , and . Most southbound trains continue through to

Birmingham New Street Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the Birmingham station group, three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the Rail transport in the United Kingdom, British railway system. It is a ma ...

and . Trains stop on request.

References

External links

Tonfanau railway station's entry
on the

National Monuments Record of Wales The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW; cy, Comisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru; ), established in 1908, is a Welsh Government sponsored body concerned with some aspects of the archaeological, architectura ...

(NMRW)'
websiteThe railway bridge over the Afon Dysynni
on the NMRW's website {{Gwynedd railway stations Railway stations in Gwynedd DfT Category F2 stations Former Cambrian Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1895 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1896 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1897 Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail Railway request stops in Great Britain Llangelynin, Gwynedd