Caernarvon railway station

Caernarvon
The site of the station in 2013
General information
Location	Caernarfon Wales
Coordinates	53°08′41″N 4°16′17″W / 53.14461°N 4.27145°W / 53.14461; -4.27145
Grid reference	SH 481 632
Platforms	5[1]
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Bangor and Carnarvon Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 July 1852	Opened as Carnarvon[2][3]
27 March 1926	Renamed Caernarvon[2][4]
5 January 1970	Closed[4]
23 May 1970	Temporarily reopened for freight
30 January 1972	Closed for freight

v t e Carnarvonshire Railway
Legend
Bangor and Carnarvon Railway to Bangor Caernarvon Carnarvon and Llanberis Railway Caernarfon (WHR) Quay sidings Caernarvon (Morfa) Carnarvon (Pant) Pont Rug Halt Pontrhythallt Bontnewydd (WHR) Cwm-y-Glo Llanberis Tunnel Glynrhonwy Quarries Padarn Halt Llanberis Dinas Junction Welsh Highland Railway Llanwnda Groeslon Penygroes Nantlle Branch Junction Nantlle summit Pant Glas Brynkir Ynys Llangybi Chwilog Aberystwith & Welsh Coast Rly to Pwllheli Afon Wen Aberystwith & Welsh Coast Rly to Porthmadog

Caernarvon railway station was a stop on the former Bangor and Carnarvon Railway between Caernarfon in Gwynedd and the Menai Suspension Bridge near Bangor, Wales. The station was closed to all traffic in January 1972; it has since been demolished and the site redeveloped.

The station, which opened on 1 July 1852, was first named Carnarvon.^{[2][nb 1]} The town was originally the terminus of the branch line from Menai Bridge, later becoming part of the Carnarvonshire Railway. In 1864, the Carnarvon and Llanberis Railway extended the branch line 8 miles (13 km) from Carnarvon station to Llanberis. A 300-yard (270 m) tunnel was constructed just south of the station to carry the new line; it was reopened in 1995 as a road tunnel.^{[citation needed]}

By 1871, all three original companies were absorbed into the London and North Western Railway. The station was renamed Caernarvon on 27 March 1926.^[2][4] In December 1964, the lines to Afon Wen and Llanberis were closed under the Beeching Axe.^[5]

On 5 January 1970, Caernarvon was closed to all services.^[4] However, following a fire that destroyed the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Straits on 23 May 1970, the branch and goods yard were temporarily reopened for freight traffic until 30 January 1972. The branch line to Caernarvon station was finally closed with the resumption of rail services to Anglesey and Holyhead in February 1972. The track was removed and the station was completely demolished.^[1]

A Morrisons supermarket now occupies the site,^[6] having been built under the Safeway brand in the late 1980s. It was opened by the mayor of Caernarfon and was acquired by Morrisons in 2004.

The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) now operates from Caernarfon railway station; it uses the original trackbed of the Carnarvonshire Railway, just south of the tunnel on St Helen's Road and beneath the high retaining walls of Segontium Terrace.

Caernarfon Council have a longer-term plan to reinstate the railway link to Bangor. After speculation that the WHR would, at some point in time, be extended to Bangor station, the owner of the WHR (the Ffestiniog Railway) wrote to the council in January 2014 to confirm that they would not themselves be supportive of such a scheme in narrow gauge, but supported the reconnection of the town to the National Rail network using standard gauge.^[7]

• Baughan, Peter E. (1988). The North Wales Coast railway : the Chester - Holyhead line, and Llandudno - Blaenau Ffestiniog (1st ed.). Halifax, West Yorks: Martin Bairstow. ISBN 0-9510-3029-9. OCLC 21328302.
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2010). Bangor to Portmadoc: Including Three Llanberis Lines (Country Railway Routes). Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 978-1-906008-72-7.
• Shannon, Paul; Hillmer, John (1999). North Wales (British Railways Past & Present) Part 2. Kettering: Past & Present Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85895-163-1. No 36.
• Turner, Alun (2003). Gwynedd's Lost Railways. Catrine, Ayrshire: Stenlake Publishing. ISBN 9781840332599.

• Clemens, Jim (2003) [1959-67]. North Wales Steam Lines No. 6 (DVD). Uffington, Shropshire: B&R Video Productions. BRVP No 79.

• The station site on a navigable OS Map, via National Library of Scotland
• The station and line, via Rail Map Online
• The line BCN with mileages, via Railway Codes
• Images of Caernarfon stations, via Yahoo
• The station and line, via LNWR Society Archived 19 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
• Caernarfon station, via Disused Stations
• Caernarfon Town Line, via Disused Stations
• By DMU from Pwllheli to Amlwch, via Huntley Archives