Blaenau Ffestiniog railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Blaenau Ffestiniog
code = BFF

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caption = Blaenau Ffestiniog station is served by mainline standard gauge DMUs and narrow gauge trains of the Ffestiniog Railway
manager = Arriva Trains Wales (Platform 1) / Ffestiniog Railway (Platforms 2 & 3)
locale = Blaenau Ffestiniog
borough = Gwynedd
latitude = 52.99460
longitude = -3.93838
gridref = SH700458
platforms = 2 narrow gauge / 1 standard gauge
lowusage0405 = 25,700 (Arriva Trains Wales service)
lowusage0506 = 23,553 (Arriva Trains Wales service)
lowusage0607 = 19,272 (Arriva Trains Wales service)
years = 22 March 1982
events = Standard gauge (platform 1) opened
years1 = 25 May 1982
events1 = Narrow gauge (platform 3) opened

Blaenau Ffestiniog railway station serves the slate mining town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, Wales, and is the passenger terminus of the Conwy Valley Line from Llandudno Junction. Arriva Trains Wales operate through services to Llandudno Junction and Llandudno. The station is a joint station with the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway, which operates primarily tourist passenger services to Porthmadog throughout most of the year. A feature of the standard gauge service is the availability on trains and buses of the popular "Gwynedd Red Rover" day ticket.

Facilities

The standard gauge side comprises a single platform (Platform 1) opening directly on to the station car park and the High Street. There is a standard gauge run-round loop used by occasional locomotive hauled charter trains. The narrow gauge side comprises an island platform (Platforms 2 and 3) with an overall roof reached via a footbridge and also from the standard gauge platform and the town centre by a pedestrian level crossing at the terminal end. Narrow gauge trains normally use Platform 3. There is also a narrow gauge run-round loop.

History

Ffestiniog Railway

The first railway to be built in Blaenau Ffestiniog was the Festiniog Railway, which opened for slate traffic in 1836. The main line terminated at Dinas in the north of the town with a branch line from a junction at Glanypwll to Duffws near the town centre. The first passenger trains ran from Porthmadog to Dinas on 6 January 1865 and the passenger station at Duffws opened in January 1866. Until 1870 alternate trains ran to Dinas and Duffws but by the end of 1870 Dinas passenger station had closed and all passenger services in future terminated at Duffws. The main Duffws station building survives as a grade 2 listed building serving as a public toilet block on the central car park.

Festiniog and Blaenau Railway

Meanwhile, the narrow gauge Festiniog and Blaenau Railway had opened from Llan Ffestiniog to Blaenau Ffestiniog on 29 May 1868. The line was initially worked by the Ffestiniog Railway and all slate traffic on the F&BR throughout its existence was carried in FR owned wagons. The FR and F&BR stations were both called Duffws although they were several hundred yards apart and passengers walked between the two. On 1 September 1882 the standard gauge Bala Ffestiniog Line reached the Llan Ffestiniog from the south. The following year the narrow gauge line was converted, with the station re-opening on 10 September 1883. [Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire - Volume 1 (pp 47-88) (ISBN 0-85361-365-6)]

Conwy Valley Line

The first standard gauge railway reached the town in 1879. It was the London and North Western Railway Conwy Valley Line from Llandudno Junction, which established its slate yards at the northern end of Blaenau Ffestiniog and built its passenger station near Glanypwll and across the road from the Ffestiniog Railway on which an interchange station was built in 1881. The LNWR had built this line in order to seek a share of the Ffestiniog slate traffic (including that then being carried by coastal steamer from Porthmadog to ports on the Irish sea and elsewhere). To this end they established a slate wharf at Deganwy and a feature of early LNWR operation of the line was the carriage of slate in narrow gauge wagons from Blaenau to Deganwy pick-a-back on standard gauge wagons. [Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire - Volume 1 (page 68) (ISBN 0-85361-365-6)]

Bala Ffestiniog Line

The last major change in the 19th century was the construction of the Great Western Railway line from Bala to Llan Ffestiniog and the conversion of the Festiniog and Blaenau line to standard gauge in 1883. The Ffestiniog Railway provided an interchange platform adjoining the GWR station. From 1883 until 1930 there were therefore five railway passenger stations in use in Blaenau Ffestiniog. Duffws station closed in 1930 and the two remaining FR stations closed at the outbreak of war in 1939. A feature of GWR operation of this line from 1883 to 1945 was the carriage of slate in narrow gauge wagons from Tanymanod to Blaenau (about ¾ mile) pick-a-back on standard gauge wagons. [Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire - Volume 1 (page 68) (ISBN 0-85361-365-6)]

Post Second World War

Following nationalisation, the LMS (LNWR) station was renamed Blaenau Ffestiniog North and the GWR station became Blaenau Ffestiniog Central. The construction of the Tryweryn reservoir from 1958 brought the closure of the former GWR line to passengers on 2 January 1960 and to freight trains on 27 January 1961. Later, the construction of the Trawsfynydd nuclear power station in 1963 led to the extension of the Conwy Valley line to the Central station site in order to provide rail access to the power station. Passenger services continued to terminate at Blaenau Ffestiniog North.

1982 Central Station

In 1982, with the completion of the rebuilding of the Ffestiniog Railway back to Blaenau, the new Ffestiniog Railway/British Rail Joint Station was opened on the site of the Festiniog Railway/GWR Joint Station of 1883. British Rail trains first used the new station on 22 March 1982 and Festiniog Railway service to Blaenau Ffestiniog was resumed on 25 May 1982 [News; Festiniog Railway Magazine (FR Society), No.97, Summer 1968 (Return to Blaenau!)] .

The new joint station was officially opened on 30 April 1983 by George Thomas, Speaker of the House of Commons, who unveiled a plaque at the station recording his visit. The Royal Oakeley Silver Band and the Brythoniaid Male Voice Choir led the celebrations [News; Festiniog Railway Magazine (FR Society), No.101, Summer 1983 (Order! Order!)] .

In 1990 the temporary wooden buildings on the narrow gauge island platform were replaced with new permanent masonry buildings. As part of these works, the platform 2 track was laid.

References

*J. I. C. Boyd; "The Festiniog Railway", 1959, revised edns 1965,1975
*J.G.V.Mitchell & A.G.W.Garraway; Return to Blaenau 1970-82, 2001

External links

* [http://www.ffestiniograilway.co.uk/index.asp The Ffestiniog Railway Company's website]
* [http://www.conwyvalleyrailway.co.uk/ Conwy Valley Railway]
* [http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=52.962693~-3.98009&style=h&lvl=14&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=4268586&cid=230D1A79E4437B66!156 Interactive Route Map on Live.com]
* [http://www.ffestiniograilway.co.uk/timetable.htm Ffestiniog Railway Timetables]
* [http://www.frheritage.org.uk/wiki/Blaenau_Ffestiniog FR Heritage Group Wiki: Blaenau Ffestiniog]

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