The Clarbeston Road and Letterston Railway was a small railway company formed to give the Great Western Railway a more direct route to the port at

Fishguard Harbour Goodwick (; cy, Wdig) is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, immediately west of its twin town of Fishguard. Fishguard and Goodwick form a Community (Wales), community that wraps around Fishguard Bay. As well as the two towns, it consists o ...

History

The Great Western Railway (GWR) originally obtained access to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

over the

South Wales Railway The South Wales Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd De Cymru) was a main line railway which opened in stages from 1850, connecting the Great Western Railway from Gloucester to South Wales. It was constructed on the broad gauge. An original aspiration was to ...

, which ran via , and to , where a small port was built as part of the railway facilities; the line was opened as far as Haverfordwest in 1854, and extended to Neyland in 1856. The original proposal of 1844 (authorised by Act of Parliament in 1845) had been for the western terminus to be at

Fishguard Fishguard ( cy, Abergwaun, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,419 in 2011; the community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5,407. Modern Fishguard consists of two p ...

, with Haverfordwest on a branch, and by August 1847 work was in progress within of Fishguard. In 1848, the effects of the Great Irish Famine made Ireland a less attractive proposition, and work on the western end of the line stopped as a result. In 1851, work restarted, but it was decided that the western terminus should be on the

Milford Haven Waterway Milford Haven Waterway (''Welsh: Dyfrffordd Aberdaugleddau'') is a natural harbour in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is a ria or drowned valley which was flooded at the end of the last ice age. The Daugleddau estuary winds west to the sea. As one ...

, and Neyland was selected; the section between Clarbeston Road and Fishguard, some in length, was not built. In 1878, the Rosebush and Fishguard Railway (R&FR) was formed, to extend the

Narberth Road and Maenclochog Railway The Narberth Road and Maenclochog Railway was a Welsh light railway company in Pembrokeshire. Services started in January 1876. Route The line ran from Clynderwen (formerly Narberth Road) on the Great Western Railway via Maenclochog to Rosebu ...

(NR&MR), which had opened in 1876, to Fishguard; the R&FR bought the NR&MR in 1881 and was renamed the North Pembrokeshire and Fishguard Railway (NP&FR) in 1884, although it only opened approximately of new line. The NP&FR was acquired by the

Fishguard and Rosslare Railways and Harbours The Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland from 1844 until 1924. The GS&WR grew by building lines and making a series of takeovers, until in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was the ...

Co. (F&RR&H) in 1894. In 1899, the F&RR&H sold its railways in Wales to the GWR, which completed the extension of the NP&FR line to on 1 July 1899. A new double-track line was proposed by the GWR to shorten the distance to Fishguard; this was the ''Clarbeston Road and Letterston Railway'', which opened on 30 August 1906 between Clarbeston Junction ( from Paddington) and Letterston Junction (). Prior to this, Letterston Junction was from Paddington via Rosebush. There is one tunnel, Spittal Tunnel, which is long; the eastern end is from Paddington. There were no intermediate stations at first, but three were opened later: on 1 October 1913, on 5 May 1924, and on 1 August 1923. The intermediate stations were closed on 6 April 1964, but the line remains open for services to ''Fishguard & Goodwick'' and ''Fishguard Harbour'' stations. Falling traffic on the line caused it to be reduced to single-track on 16 May 1971 with a passing loop at Letterston Junction.

Notes

References

* * * * {{Historical Welsh railway companies , state=collapsed Railway lines opened in 1906 Railway lines in Wales Great Western Railway constituents 1906 establishments in Wales