Aberdovey railway station () serves the

seaside resort A seaside resort is a city, resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of an official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requi ...

of in ,

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. The station is on the

Cambrian Coast Railway The Cambrian Line (), sometimes split into the Cambrian Main Line () and Cambrian Coast Line () for its branches, is a railway line that runs from Shrewsbury in England, westwards to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli in Wales. Passenger train services ...

with passenger services every two hours (weekday daytimes) calling at all stations between and , including , , and . Passengers can connect at for trains to or , , and .

History

The first station opened 24 October 1863 near the harbour on a short branch line south of the present station. It closed when the present station was opened in 1867 by the Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway, then run by the

Cambrian Railways The Cambrian Railways owned of Railway track, track over a large area of mid Wales. The system was an amalgamation of a number of railways that were incorporated in 1864, 1865 and 1904. The Cambrian connected with two larger railways with c ...

. It later became part of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

and then passed on to the

London Midland Region of British Railways The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irela ...

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

in 1948. When Sectorisation was introduced, the station was served by

Regional Railways Regional Railways was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982 that existed until 1997, two years after Privatisation of British Rail. The sector was originally called ''Provincial''. Regional Railways was the most sub ...

until the

Privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the Rail transport in Great Britain, railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, the process was largely compl ...

ways. Until the 1960s there was a summer service between and , via , Shrewsbury and . The original station building is in use as a private residence. It is located next to a static caravan park which is all that lies between the station and the stretch of coastline between and , and next to the Aberdovey Golf Club. The station was host to a GWR

camp coach Camp may refer to: Areas of confinement, imprisonment, or for execution * Concentration camp, an internment camp for political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups * Exterminatio ...

in 1939. At least one

camping coach Camping coaches were holiday accommodation offered by many Rail transport, railway companies in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland from the 1930s. The Coach (rail), coaches were old passenger vehicles no longer suitable for use in tr ...

was positioned here by the Western Region from 1952 to 1962, there were two from 1957 to 1958 and three from 1959 to 1962 when the

London Midland Region The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irelan ...

took over responsibility for the coaches, they had three here from 1963 to 1971.

Facilities

Originally a two-platform station with a short branch line (only a few hundred yards long) to the harbour, the station is now a single-platform, unstaffed halt. Like many stations in Wales and the North of England, the station was constructed before standard platform heights were established and is very low. Aberdovey was the third UK railway station to receive a specially designed raised section - a

Harrington Hump The Harrington Hump is a modular, easy-to-install system by which the height of a railway platform can be increased at relatively low cost. The system takes its name from Harrington railway station in Cumbria, England, which is the locatio ...

- to improve accessibility for passengers. This was funded by the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...

. There are no ticketing facilities at the station, and there is also no waiting room. There is a free car park with 25 spaces.

Passenger volume

Services

Transport for Wales Transport for Wales (TfW; ; ) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consisting of itself and its subsidiaries: Trans ...

run a two-hourly service each way on the

Cambrian Coast Line The Cambrian Line (), sometimes split into the Cambrian Main Line () and Cambrian Coast Line () for its branches, is a railway line that runs from Shrewsbury in England, westwards to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli in Wales. Passenger train services ...

from - where the route connects to the main

Cambrian Line The Cambrian Line (), sometimes split into the Cambrian Main Line () and Cambrian Coast Line () for its branches, is a railway line that runs from Shrewsbury in England, westwards to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli in Wales. Passenger train services ...

- to through . Most services in the May 2016 timetable run to/from Birmingham International via Shrewsbury.

References

External links

{{Gwynedd railway stations Railway stations in Gwynedd DfT Category F2 stations Former Cambrian Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1867 Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail Aberdyfi