Bangor (Gwynedd) railway station
Bangor  | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
| Place | Bangor |
| Local authority | Gwynedd |
| Grid reference | SH575716 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | BNG |
| Managed by | Arriva Trains Wales |
| Number of platforms | 2 |
| DfT category | C1 |
|
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries | |
| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2004/05 |
 0.534 million |
| 2005/06 |
0.538 million |
| 2006/07 |
0.547 million |
| 2007/08 |
0.564 million |
| 2008/09 |
 0.551 million |
| 2009/10 |
0.592 million |
| 2010/11 |
0.613 million |
| 2011/12 |
0.676 million |
| - Interchange | 1,487 |
| 2012/13 |
0.680 million |
| - Interchange |
2,471 |
| 2013/14 |
0.663 million |
| 2014/15 |
0.671 million |
| - Interchange |
1,511 |
| History | |
| Key dates | Opened 1 May 1848 |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Bangor from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
| UK Railways portal | |
Bangor railway station is a railway station in Bangor, Gwynedd. The station, which is 24 3⁄4 miles (40 km) east of Holyhead, is the last mainland station on the North Wales Coast line between London Euston to Holyhead. It is the busiest in terms of passenger numbers in North Wales.[1]
History
The station, which cost £6,960 to build (about £21million in 2015), was opened on 1 May 1848 by the Chester and Holyhead Railway.[2] Lying between two tunnels, the station was progressively expanded into a junction station as a number of branch lines were opened:
- From Menai Bridge to Caernarvon (Bangor and Carnarvon Railway) (1848)
- From Gaerwen to Amlwch (Anglesey Central Railway) (1866)
- From Holland Arms to Red Wharf Bay and Benllech (Red Wharf Bay branch line) (1909)
- To Bethesda (Bethesda Branch) (1884)
The station was renamed twice under British Railways: originally Bangor, it became Bangor (Caerns); then Bangor (Gwynedd). In some timetables it was shown as Bangor for Beaumaris.[2]
The present building on platform 1 was the main building, with a forecourt on the site of the present car park. Between 1924 and 1927 an additional loop line and platform were constructed on the site of the forecourt with a new frontage facing Deiniol Road. Ultimately there were four platforms and a small bay platform to serve the main line and branch lines.[3][4]
By the 1950s there were an extensive goods yard, a five-road engine shed (on the site of the steel mill), a turntable, three-road goods shed, two signal boxes, an extra footbridge and a subway connecting platforms. There were a total of nine separate through routes from one tunnel to the other.
With the closure of the branch lines in the 1960s and 1970s, the station was reduced to just two operational platforms, with the track and platform on the pre-1920s forecourt converted back to something like its original use. The station presently uses two large island platforms. The up line and a down line both have double tracks. Two further lines are reserved for goods traffic, particularly the carriage of nuclear fuel flasks to and from Wylfa nuclear power station on Anglesey.
In November 2009 the Welsh Assembly Government asked Network Rail to conduct a feasibility study on reopening the line between Llangefni on Anglesey and Bangor for passenger services. Network Rail was asked to assess the track bed before publishing its report in 2010.[5] Work to clear away 21 years of vegetation began in April 2012.[6]
Services
There is a basic hourly service to Wrexham General and Shrewsbury via Llandudno Junction, Colwyn Bay, Rhyl, Prestatyn Flint and Chester, as well as across Anglesey to Holyhead.
There are several through services to and from London Euston (six per day Monday-Friday, of which five run to and from Holyhead whilst the other starts and terminates here; four on Saturdays, all of which run to/from Holyhead) operated by Virgin Trains, Virgin also provide two services to/from Birmingham New Street and Crewe on weekdays. Services run beyond Shrewsbury to/from Cardiff Central via Hereford (every two hours) and Birmingham International (every two hours). In addition there are several early morning & late night trains run by Arriva Trains Wales running to/from Crewe and two trains to and from Manchester Piccadilly on weekdays and one on Saturdays in the current (December 2015 - May 2016) timetable.[7]
On Sundays the service is also hourly each way from mid-morning, but runs to Holyhead and Crewe (apart from a single through service to Cardiff).
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arriva Trains Wales | ||||
| Arriva Trains Wales North-South "Premier" service | ||||
| Virgin Trains London Euston/Birmingham New Street/Crewe-Bangor/Holyhead | ||||
| Terminus |
Notes
- ↑ "Station Usage Statistics 2012/13". Office of Rail Regulation. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
- 1 2 Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 26. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
- ↑ John Cowell (1990). Bangor: A Portrait in Old Picture Postcards. S.B. Publications. ISBN 1-870708-58-X.
- ↑ John Cowell (1997). Bangor: A Pictorial History (Volume 2). ISBN 0-9518592-3-4.
- ↑ "Old tracks could see trains again". BBC News. 2009-11-06. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
- ↑ "Initial work begins on Llangefni-Amlwch railway". North Wales Chronicle. 20 April 2012.
- ↑ GB eNRT 2015-2016 Edition, Table 81
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bangor (Gwynedd) railway station. |
- Train times and station information for Bangor (Gwynedd) railway station from National Rail
- Postcard of Bangor railway station in 1909
Coordinates: 53°13′19″N 4°08′10″W / 53.222°N 4.136°W