Pont-y-Pant railway station

Pont-y-Pant railway station is a single platform passenger station in the Lledr Valley, Wales, on the Conwy Valley line from Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog, which is operated by Transport for Wales. The station house is well maintained and used as a private dwelling.

Pont-y-Pant
Location
PlaceLledr Valley
Local authorityConwy
Coordinates53.065°N 3.863°W / 53.065; -3.863
Grid referenceSH752536
Operations
Station codePYP
Managed byTransport for Wales
Number of platforms1
DfT categoryF2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 1,674
2015/16 1,050
2016/17 812
2017/18 842
2018/19 896
History
Original companyLondon and North Western Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and North Western Railway
22 July 1879Opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
  • Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Pont-y-Pant from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

History

The station was opened on 22 July 1879 when the London and North Western Railway opened an extension of the Conwy Valley line from Betws-y-Coed to Blaenau Ffestiniog.[1]

The station was the loading point for slate from the Rhiw-goch quarry on the opposite side of the valley. The slate was brought across the river by carts which crossed a substantially built bridge.[2] The bridge is not shown on the 1888 OS Six-inch map[3] but it is on the 1901 edition. Both maps show sidings to the north of the station on the eastern side of the line.[4]

The station was host to a LMS caravan from 1934 to 1936 followed by two caravans from 1937 to 1939. A camping coach was also positioned here by the London Midland Region in 1954.[5]

Location
The station house in June 2006
The bridge across the Afon Lledr connecting the station to Rhiw-goch quarry

The station, which is operated as an unstaffed halt and as a request stop, is across the River Lledr from the A470 main road and the bridge is a quarter of a mile to the north of the station.

There is no local village but the station serves a number of nearby isolated properties, and is also useful to walkers, owing to its proximity to a surviving section of the Sarn Helen Roman road, and to the nearby village of Dolwyddelan.

Services

Five southbound and six northbound trains call on request Mon-Sat (approximately every three hours), with four trains each way on Sundays.[6]

From 16 March 2019 however, the service was suspended and replaced by buses due to major flood damage in the Llanrwst area caused by Storm Gareth. The line remained closed for several months whilst repairs were carried out.[7] Services resumed on 24 July 2019. Further storm damage to the north (this time from Storm Ciara) in February 2020 has once again seen services suspended, with buses replacing trains until September 2020.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Betws-y-Coed   Transport for Wales
Conwy Valley Line		   Dolwyddelan

References
  1. Quick, Michael (2019) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF) (5th ed.). Railway and Canal Historical Society.
  2. Richards, Alun John (1999). The Slate Regions of North and Mid Wales and Their Railways. Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. ISBN 978-0-86381-552-2.
  3. "Pont-y-pant station on OS Six-inch map Caernarvonshire XXIII.NE (includes: Betws y Coed; Capel Curig; Dolwyddelan.)". National Library of Scotland. 1888. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  4. "Pont-y-pant station on OS Six-inch map Caernarvonshire XXIII.NE (includes: Betws y Coed; Capel Curig; Dolwyddelan.)". National Library of Scotland. 1901. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  5. McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. pp. 22 & 50. ISBN 1-870119-48-7.
  6. Table 102 National Rail timetable, December 2019
  7. Flood damaged Conwy Valley line could be closed for months itv.com news article 25 March 2019; Retrieved 26 March 2019

Further reading
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2010). Bala to Llandudno. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 76-78. ISBN 9781906008871. OCLC 668198724.
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