Kidwelly railway station

Kidwelly railway station serves the town of Kidwelly (Welsh: Cydweli), Carmarthenshire, Wales. The station is situated on the coast just southwest of Kidwelly itself.

Kidwelly
Welsh: Cydweli
Location
PlaceKidwelly
Local authorityCarmarthenshire
Coordinates51.734°N 4.317°W / 51.734; -4.317
Grid referenceSN401064
Operations
Station codeKWL
Managed byTransport for Wales
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryF1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 31,040
2015/16 30,644
2016/17 29,992
2017/18 28,188
2018/19 27,596
National Rail – UK railway stations
  • Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Kidwelly from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

The station was opened by the South Wales Railway on 11 October 1852 and was once the junction for a branch of the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway which ran via Ty Coch to Trimsaran Road.[1] This connection, which lay just to the east of the level crossing, was re-used between 1984 and 1996 for coal traffic to/from the washery at Coedbach following the closure of the flood-prone BP&GVR main line to Burry Port in 1983. Nothing remains today to show the industrial heritage of the railway here, as the branch has been dismantled.

History
The level crossing and the lane to Kymer's Quay

The station was first opened as a temporary wooden platform however on 26 March 1852 Emery of Gloucester was awarded the contract and a stone-built station was constructed of a style repeated all along the line.[2] These station buildings have been demolished and replaced with basic shelters. The station is now unmanned and is a request stop.

On 20 June 1957 a Royal Air Force Hawker Hunter crashed 200 yards east of station with the death of the pilot.[3]

At the east end of the station is a signal box with an adjacent level crossing where the road from Kidwelly to the old quay crosses the railway line. The west end of the station ends with a bridge over the river. A World War II pillbox remains intact just before the bridge.

Services

There is a two-hourly service from the station for most of the day (Mon-Sat), improving to hourly during the morning and evening peak periods. Stops are provided by both the West Wales/Carmarthen to Manchester Piccadilly and Pembroke Dock to Swansea trains (peak periods and evenings only), though the daily Carmarthen to London Paddington service also calls eastbound (except Saturdays). A similar service is provided on Sundays, but starting later in the day.[4]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Pembrey & Burry Port   Transport for Wales
West Wales line		   Ferryside
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gollark: Yay viaducts!
gollark: Oh.

References
  1. "Burry Port & Gwendraeth Valley Light Railway" The Colonel Stephens Society article; Retrieved 29 June 2016
  2. Bowen, R.E. (2001). The Burry Port & Gwendreath Valley Railway and its Antecedent Canals. Usk : The Oakwood Press. ISBN 085361685X.
  3. http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/projects/crashsites2012-13.pdf
  4. Table 128 National Rail timetable, December 2018

Media related to Kidwelly railway station at Wikimedia Commons


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