Caersws railway station

Caersws railway station is a railway station on the Cambrian Line in mid-Wales, serving the village of Caersws. It is notable that there is a distance of 22 miles (35 km) between this station and Machynlleth, the longest distance between two intermediate stations in Wales.[2]

Caersws
Welsh: Caersŵs
Location
PlaceCaersws
Local authorityPowys
Coordinates52.516°N 3.433°W / 52.516; -3.433
Grid referenceSO028918
Operations
Station codeCWS
Managed byTransport for Wales
Number of platforms1
DfT categoryF1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 49,250
2015/16 57,942
2016/17 64,636
2017/18 69,668
2018/19 60,626
History
Key datesOpened 3 January 1863[1] (3 January 1863[1])
Original companyNewtown and Machynlleth Railway
Pre-groupingCambrian Railways
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Caersws from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

History

The notable Welsh romantic poet John Ceiriog Hughes was employed as a station master and Manager of the Van Railway at Caersws railway station from 1868 until his death in 1887.[3]

From 1871 to 1940 the Van Railway terminated at Caersws. The station was built by the Newtown and Machynlleth Railway of the Cambrian Railways in the 1890s. Originally there was a passing loop, a goods shed, a water tower and a ticket office and a signal box - the latter remained in use until March 2011 as a gate box to supervise the station level crossing (this is now operated from Machynlleth).

The station was threatened with closure in 1964 along with all of the other wayside stops on the former Cambrian main line (as a consequence of the Beeching Axe), but reprieved by the then Minister of Transport Tom Fraser in December that year to act as the notional railhead for the town of Llanidloes (following the demise of the Mid-Wales Railway that served it directly).[4]

In February 2013, Caersws station won the "Wales’ Best Unstaffed Train Station" award, supported by Keep Wales Tidy.[5]

Facilities

Though unstaffed, the station has a ticket machine installed. Train running information is offered via CIS displays, automated announcements, timetable poster boards and a customer help point (as is usual for ATW-managed stations). There is also payphone available.[6] Step-free access is available from the entrance to the platform.

Services

There is a basic two-hourly service in each direction Mon-Sat, with some additional services in the morning and evening (most of which run between Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth only). Sundays also run every two hours, though there is only a limited service (one in winter, three in summer) along the Cambrian Coast line to Pwllheli.[7][8]

Preceding station   National Rail   Following station
Newtown
Transport for Wales
Cambrian Line
Disused railways
Pontdolgoch
Line open, station closed		   Great Western Railway
Newtown and Machynlleth Railway		   Moat Lane Junction
Line open, station closed
Trewythan
Line and station closed		   Van Railway   Terminus
  • Bilingual sign at Caersws station in the early 2000s
  • Caersws station in the early 2000s
  • Caersws station in September 2009
  • Ticket machine and station building (2015)
  • Caersws station and signal box (2015)
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References
  1. Butt 1995, p. 51.
  2. "Support to re-open Carno railway station". BBC NEWS. 6 January 2016.
  3. C P Gasquoine (1973). The Story of the Cambrian. Christopher Davies Ltd.
  4. Disused Stations - Montgomery Disused Stations Site Record; Retrieved 31 July 2017
  5. http://www.keepwalestidy.org/10408%5B%5D
  6. Caersws station facilities National Rail Enquiries
  7. Arriva Trains Wales Timetables Archived 29 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 6 May 2016
  8. Table 76 National Rail timetable, May 2017

Sources
  • Butt, R. V. J. (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.

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