Pont-y-Pant railway station explained

Pont-y-Pant
Symbol Location:gb
Symbol:rail
Borough:Lledr Valley, Conwy
Country:Wales
Coordinates:53.065°N -3.863°W
Grid Name:Grid reference
Manager:Transport for Wales Rail
Platforms:1
Code:PYP
Classification:DfT category F2
Original:London and North Western Railway
Pregroup:London and North Western Railway
Years:22 July 1879
Events:Opened
Footnotes:Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

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 Rail. The station house is well maintained and used as a private dwelling.

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 to .

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.[1] The bridge is not shown on the 1888 OS Six-inch map[2] but it is on the 1901 edition. Both maps show sidings to the north of the station on the eastern side of the line.[3]

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.[4]

Location

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.

Services

Five southbound and six northbound trains call on request Mondays to Saturdays (approximately every three hours), with four trains each way on Sundays.

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.[5] Services resumed on 24 July 2019. Further storm damage to the north (this time from Storm Ciara) in February 2020 once again saw services suspended, with buses replacing trains from here until the line reopened again on 28 September 2020.[6]

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Richards, Alun John . The Slate Regions of North and Mid Wales and Their Railways . 1999 . Gwasg Carreg Gwalch . 978-0-86381-552-2.
  2. Web site: Pont-y-pant station on OS Six-inch map Caernarvonshire XXIII.NE (includes: Betws y Coed; Capel Curig; Dolwyddelan.). 1888. National Library of Scotland . 2 July 2020.
  3. Web site: Pont-y-pant station on OS Six-inch map Caernarvonshire XXIII.NE (includes: Betws y Coed; Capel Curig; Dolwyddelan.). 1901. National Library of Scotland . 2 July 2020.
  4. Book: McRae, Andrew. British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region) . Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One) . Foxline . 1997 . 1-870119-48-7. 22 & 50.
  5. https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2019-03-25/flood-damaged-railway-could-be-closed-for-months/ Flood damaged Conwy Valley line could be closed for months
  6. Web site: Conwy Valley Line opens after £2.2m flood repairs. BBC, 28 September 2020.