St Clears railway station
St Clears railway station served the small town of St Clears, Carmarthenshire, Wales between 1854 and 1964. It was on the West Wales Line.
St Clears | |
|---|---|
 The station was right of the level crossing | |
| Location | St Clears, Carmarthenshire Wales |
| Coordinates | 51.8283°N 4.4923°W |
| Grid reference | SN283173 |
| Platforms | 2 |
| Other information | |
| Status | Disused |
| History | |
| Original company | South Wales Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Great Western Railway |
| Post-grouping | Great Western Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 2 January 1854 | Station opened |
| 15 June 1964 | Station closed |
History
The station opened on 2 January 1854.[1] It was on the section of the South Wales Railway which opened that day between the temporary station near Carmarthen and Haverfordwest,[2] and was situated between Sarnau and Whitland.[3]
The station closed on 15 June 1964.[1] An attempt to reopen the station in 1973 was made by five local authorities and organisations, together with the Department of the Environment, which jointly agreed to fund construction of a new station at a total cost of £5,400 (equivalent to £25,500 in 2019[lower-alpha 1]).[4] The new station would have consisted of concrete platforms adjoining both tracks and timber waiting shelters provided with electric lighting.[4] It had been hoped that works would be swiftly completed so that the first trains could call at St Clears by the end of Summer 1973, but this did not materialise.[4]
New reopening proposals
There has long been a local campaign for the reopening of the station, supported by Angela Burns AM and William Powell AM.[5][6]
Locals started a Facebook campaign to reopen the station in 2010 which drew in thousands of supporters. The St Clears Times ran a community poll from 2010 and 95% of people who voted were in favour of opening the station.
There have been recent proposals to reopen the station as part of the Welsh Governments Rail infrastructure investment.[7] In 2019 it was shortlisted by Welsh Government for further assessment, along with three other stations (from an original longlist of 12) as part of a national strategy to improve transport links.[8] In 2020, funding was secured to reopen the station by 2024.[9]
Routes
| Preceding station | Historical railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarnau Line open, station closed |
Great Western Railway South Wales Railway |
Whitland Line and station open | ||
| Future services | ||||
| Carmarthen | Transport for Wales West Wales line |
Whitland | ||
References
- Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 203. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
- MacDermot, E.T. (1927). History of the Great Western Railway, vol. I: 1833-1863. Paddington: Great Western Railway. pp. 572–3, 865.
- Conolly, W. Philip (January 1976). British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer (5th ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 7, section A1. ISBN 0-7110-0320-3. EX/0176.
- "Topics: St. Clears to reopen". The Railway Magazine. 119 (866): 269. June 1973.
- "Station campaign picks up steam". BBC News Online. 4 February 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
- "Fresh support for calls to reopen town's rail station". Carmarthen Journal. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
- Mosalski, Ruth (28 August 2019). "The new railway stations which could be built in Wales". walesonline. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
- Ruth Davies (3 December 2020). "St Clears' new rail station welcomed by Carmarthenshire County Council". Tivyside Advertiser. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
External links
