Carmarthen–Aberystwyth line

Carmarthen–Aberystwyth line
Overview
Status	mostly disused; some reused by Gwili Railway
Locale	Wales
Termini	Aberystwyth Carmarthen
Operation
Opened	1860 (Carmarthen to Cynwyl Elfed)
Closed	1965 (passenger service) 1970 (Pont Llanio creamery to Aberaeron Junction) 1973 (Aberaeron to Carmarthen)
Events
Tracks lifted	1975
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Old gauge	7 ft (2,134 mm) (Carmarthen to Cynwyl Elfed)
Route map Aberystwyth Cambrian Line to Machynlleth & Shrewsbury Llanrhystyd Road Vale of Rheidol Railway (narrow gauge) Llanilar Mid- Wales Railway to Shrewsbury Felindyffryn Halt Llanidloes Trawscoed Mid-Wales Railway to Builth Caradog Falls Halt Llangurig branch (never saw use) Strata Florida (Ystrad Fflur) unbuilt connection 15 miles (24 km) Alltddu Halt Tregaron Pont Llanio Olmarch Halt Llangybi Derry Ormond Newcastle Emlyn Aberaeron branch Pontgoch Lampeter Teifi Valley Railway (narrow gauge) Pencarreg Halt Henllan Llanybydder Pentrecourt Platform Maesycrugiau Llandyssul Bryn Teifi Pencader Junction Pencader Pencader Tunnel 985 yd 901 m Llanpumpsaint Conwil Danycoed Halt Llwyfan Cerrig Gwili Railway Bronwydd Arms Abergwili Junction Heart of Wales line Carmarthen Town River Gwili Carmarthen West Wales line

The Carmarthen–Aberystwyth line was originally a standard-gauge branch line of the Great Western Railway (GWR) in Wales, connecting Carmarthen and Aberystwyth.

It is now also a proposed railway link from Carmarthen railway station to Aberystwyth railway station, with five new proposed stations at Llanilar, Tregaron, Lampeter, Llanybydder and Pencader, with an estimated cost between £505 million and £700 million.

At Carmarthen, the line connected with the GWR mainline from London Paddington to Fishguard. At Aberystwyth, the line connected with the Cambrian Line. The line also had connecting branches to Aberaeron, Llandeilo and Newcastle Emlyn.

As a result of floods and the Beeching Axe, the line was entirely closed to passengers from 1965. Freight transport from Pont Llanio creamery (near Tregaron) to Aberaeron Junction (near Lampeter) ended in 1970; that from Aberaeron and the Newcastle Emlyn branch to Carmarthen ended in September 1973. The tracks were lifted in 1975.

History

Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway

The first section of line between Carmarthen and Cynwyl Elfed (the station was known as Conwil) was opened in 1860 by the Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway. This ran from Carmarthen to Newcastle Emlyn, never reaching Cardigan. The line was built as a broad-gauge route, with a third standard-gauge line added later, after the M&MR line was built.

Manchester and Milford Railway

The Manchester and Milford Railway was an ambitious proposal to connect Manchester and the industrialised Midlands and Northwest England with the docks at Milford Haven. This was a standard gauge line using the LNWR and Midland Railway metals (the M&MR would have connected with the Mid-Wales Railway at Llanidloes) and then, via a junction at Strata Florida, with the C&CR at Pencader. Trains would then have run on the C&CR to Carmarthen before connecting to the Pembroke and Tenby Railway for connection to the deepwater port at Milford Haven. The plan was that, combined with industrial traffic from South Wales, Milford Haven could "provide the Lancashire cotton industry with [an] alternative port to Liverpool."^[1][2]

The Llangurig branch as built

The scheme ran into financial difficulties. The simplest section had been constructed first which meant that it faced undertaking the toughest engineering challenge – the line between Llanidloes and Strata Florida – when the money was running out. Though it started on the Llangurig branch, diverging from the Mid-Wales Railway at Penpontbren Junction, and got as far as Llangurig, it was decided, in 1865, instead to simply divert the Lampeter route to Aberystwyth rather than build it through the mountains, abandoning the hope for a strategic route. It has been suggested that the bankruptcy of Thomas Savin, renowned Welsh railway engineer and investor, in the 1860s, may have been partly involved as it was with the failure of several other Welsh railway projects.^[3] It opened this modified through line in 1867 and remained independent until taken over by the Great Western Railway by 1911.

The initial 1861 route survey (which had parliamentary approval) and a later 1864 route were locally controversial.^[2] The unbuilt section between Strata Florida and the railhead of the Llangurig branch would have been through very mountainous terrain, although only 15 miles (24 km) in length as the crow flies.

Closure

The line closed in two stages – the northern section closed prematurely in December 1964 when a section of the line one mile east of Llanilar was damaged by floods from the adjacent River Ystwyth. The remaining southern section closed to passengers in February 1965, a part of a nationwide process of railway closures and system rationalisation (see Beeching Cuts). Goods traffic continued in the form of milk trains from Carmarthen to Pont Llanio (just south of Tregaron) and the Felin Fach creamery (on the Aberaeron branch line) using Class 35 Hymek haulage until 1970, and with Class 37 haulage until the line closure in 1973.

Current status

Disused railway bridge over the River Gwili on the former Carmarthen to Aberystwyth line

Gwili Railway

In 1974-5, the Gwili Railway was founded, and within three years, began operating over a mile long section of the line from Bronwydd Arms, north of Carmarthen.

In 1988, the line was extended to Llwyfan Cerrig, up the valley, and across the River Gwili en-route, the line later extended within half-a-mile to Danycoed Halt in 2001. Since then (with the completion of the preserved line's southern extension to Abergwili in July 2017), over four miles of track have been restored, and the Gwili Railway currently runs from Abergwili Junction to Danycoed Halt.

The Gwili Railway intends to restore the line northwards to Llanpumsaint.^[4]

Disused railway

In the north, parts of the trackbed from Aberystwyth to Trawsgoed, plus Ystrad Meurig via the Strata Florida station site to just south of the former Allt-ddu halt on Tregaron Bog (adjacent to the B4343 road) have been incorporated into the Ystwyth Trail cycle route. However, the section of trackbed from Trawsgoed station to just south of Ystrad Meurig including the tunnel adjacent to the former Caradog Falls halt is unavailable, being mostly in private ownership. On the Ystwyth Trail eastward from Llanilar to Trawsgoed, the flooding damage which caused closure of the line in December 1964 can be seen.

During the mid-1990s, a narrow-gauge railway was unsuccessfully proposed by the Ystwyth Valley Preservation Society—based on reopening a section of route from Llanilar to Llanfarian. Some items of standard-gauge rolling stock were moved into Llanilar station yard at the time – including an LNER compartment coach plus some 4-wheel tank wagons.

Quantities of trackbed and bridge abutments remain along the route, although some parts have been farmed over. Other surviving remains include, from north to south:

• Llanrhystyd Road (TBA)
• Llanilar station platforms – with remains of GWR fencing
• Felindyffryn (TBA)
• Trawscoed station, in a ruined state
• Caradog Falls Halt, intact but surrounded by private property
• Strata Florida signal box, under restoration by enthusiasts.
• Alltddu Halt.
• Tregaron station shelter, adjacent to Tregaron hospital, is now a viewing shelter for the Tregaron Horse Club; also, a GWR pagoda shelter remains on a farm near Tregaron High School.
• Pont Llanio: A GWR 1930s cast-iron water-tower is located next to the road bridge and the site of a former creamery
• Olmarch Halt: Parts of the GWR halt platform remain under a minor road bridge east of the A485 road.
• Llangybi: A road overbridge crosses the line.
• Derry Ormond station building and platforms remain at the end of a narrow road from the village of Betws Bledrws— one of only two station buildings surviving on the line.
• Lampeter goods shed—the only surviving railway related building in Lampeter. A large steel and concrete bridge across the River Teifi remains, adjacent to the A482 road south of Lampeter.
• Llanybydder Llanybydder railway station is now the village rugby club. A road bridge also crosses the old line.
• Measycrugiau (TBA)
• Bryn Teifi Bryn Teifi tunnel and platform were made accessible to the public in spring 2014.
• Pencader: A steel overbridge remains over the road between Pencader and Llandysul
• Pencader Tunnel – The southern portal remains accessible from a forestry plantation road which joins a minor road between Pencader and Llanpumpsaint.
• Llanpumpsaint: An overbridge remains over the road through the village.
• Cynwyl Elfed station platforms and some rolling stock are owned by the Gwili Railway

Stations

Named from north to south, unless otherwise stated:^[5]

Bryn Teifi station in 1962

Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway

• Newcastle Emlyn
• Henllan
• Pentrecourt platform
• Llandyssul
• Pencader – junction with Manchester and Milford Railway
• Llanpumsaint
• Cynwyl Elfed
• Llwyfan Cerrig
• Bronwydd
• Carmarthen – junction with South Wales Railway, still open

Manchester and Milford Railway

• Aberystwyth – owned by the Cambrian Railways, junction with Vale of Rheidol Railway, still open
• Llanrhystyd Road
• Llanilar
• Trawsgoed
• Strata Florida Location of proposed triangle for northern route to Llangurig
• Alltddu Later site of a small GWR halt
• Tregaron
• Pont Llanio Site of the now closed Milk Creamery that would keep the line open north of Lampeter until 1970 – located near to village of Llanddewi-Brefi
• Olmarch Halt Later site of a small GWR halt
• Llangybi Small halt located between 2 road bridges
• Derry Ormond railway station Near to village of Betws Bledrws
• Lampeter Junction station for the Lampeter, Aberayron and New Quay Light Railway.
• Llanybydder
• Maesycrugiau
• Bryn Teifi formerly New Quay Road
• Pencader – junction with Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway

Lampeter, Aberayron and New Quay Light Railway

Constructed

^[6]

• Aberaeron
• Llanerch Aeron Halt: Location of junction of proposed branch to New Quay
• Crossways Halt
• Ciliau Aeron Halt
• Felin Fach (near Ystrad Aeron): Later site of the Green Grove creamery that would keep the line open for freight only until 1973. The station building has been moved to Llwynfan Cerrig, Gwili Railway
• Talsarn Halt
• Blaenplwyf Halt: Summit of the line
• Silian Halt
• Lampeter

Proposed

• Aberaeron Junction
• Oakford: Proposed intermediate station
• Llanarth: Summit of the proposed line
• Gilfachreda: Proposed Intermediate Station
• New Quay: Terminus of the proposed line

Reopening

Official talks of reopening started in 2014, when First Minister Carwyn Jones shared their support towards the reopening,^[7] and it was adopted as an official policy of the Welsh Liberal Democrats.^[8] The next two years were followed by support from Carmarthenshire County Council, Ceredigion County Council, the Minister for Science, Economy and Transport (Welsh Government) and Plaid Cymru.^[9] Official talks and meeting included Stephen Crabb MP, Secretary of State for Wales and James Price, Director General, Economy, Science and Transport (Welsh Government) shortly followed by the AECOM report.^[10] There have been several support, funding and help pledges.

In October 2016, the Welsh government announced it would be allocating £300,000 towards funding a feasibility report into re-opening the railway as part of the draft 2017-18 budget.^[11]

See also

• List of never used railways

References

External links

• Manchester and Milford Railway at Railscot (railbrit co.uk)
• Report of an accident on a level crossing, south of Tregaron station in 1953
• Hepworth, Carys. A look back at the Aberystwyth-Carmarthen railway line. BBC News Wales (2016)