Ammanford railway station explained

Ammanford
Native Name:Welsh: Rhydaman
Symbol Location:gb
Symbol:rail
Borough:Ammanford, Carmarthenshire
Country:Wales
Coordinates:51.7951°N -3.9959°W
Grid Name:Grid reference
Manager:Transport for Wales
Platforms:1
Code:AMF
Classification:DfT category F2
Original:Llanelly Railway
Pregroup:London and North Western Railway
Postgroup:London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Years:6 May 1841
Events:Opened as Duffryn
Years1:1 July 1889
Events1:Renamed Tirydail
Years2:September 1960
Events2:Renamed Ammanford and Tirydail
Years3:6 September 1965
Events3:Renamed Ammanford and Tirydail Halt
Years4:5 May 1969
Events4:Renamed Ammanford and Tirydail
Years5:7 May 1973
Events5:Renamed Ammanford
Footnotes:Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Ammanford railway station in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Wales, is north of Swansea on the Heart of Wales Line. The station opened in 1841 as a temporary terminus of the Llanelly Railway's line to Llandeilo, making it one of the country's earlier railway stations.

Originally called Duffryn,[1] and then Tirydail, the station underwent a number of name changes before being renamed Ammanford and Tirydail in 1960 following the closure in 1958 of Ammanford station on the Amman Valley branch railway. In 1973, it became Ammanford.

The station stands at street level about northwest of Ammanford town centre on Station Road. At some point between 1891 and 1906 the passenger platform was moved from the north to the south side of the level crossing.[2] As with most of the stations on the Heart of Wales Line, the original station buildings and signal box have been demolished and now the only structures are a platform and shelter.

History

Opened by the Llanelly Railway on 6 May 1841, the station was taken over jointly by the Great Western Railway and London and North Western Railway in 1873. It became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway as a result of the Grouping of 1923. The station then passed, upon nationalisation of the railways in 1948, to the Western Region of British Railways. Under British Rail sectorisation from the 1980s until railway privatisation, Ammanford station was served by Regional Railways.

The station also had a passing loop until 1966, but this was removed when the line's signalling was simplified and many of the intermediate signal boxes (and some stations) closed when the Heart of Wales lime was rationalised.

Facilities

Amenities at the station are basic (despite it being one of the largest towns served on the route), with no ticket provision of any kind (these must be bought on the train or prior to travel). As well as the aforementioned shelter and a bicycle rack, there is a customer help point at the station entrance and a digital CIS display to provide real-time train running information.[3]

Services

All trains serving the station are operated by Transport for Wales. There are five trains a day to northbound from Monday to Saturday (plus two more to) and seven southbound to and (the first train in each direction does not run on Saturdays); two services each way call on Sundays.[4] Northbound trains must stop here in order for the train crew to activate the controls for the half-barrier level crossing,[5] but for southbound trains it is a request stop.

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.terrynorm.ic24.net/photo%20railways%20llandeilo.htm Railway Stations Pantyffynnon to Llandeilo on the Town of Ammanford website
  2. http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html Old Maps
  3. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/AMF.aspx Ammanford station facilities
  4. GB eNRT December 2022 Edition, Table 130 (Network Rail)
  5. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3996659 Ammanford railway station (2014)