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| locale = [[Goodwick]]
| locale = [[Goodwick]]
| borough = [[Pembrokeshire]]
| borough = [[Pembrokeshire]]
| image_name = [[File:Fishguard & Goodwick Train Station reopened 14-05-2012.jpg|thumb|]]
| image_name = Fishguard & Goodwick Train Station reopened 14-05-2012.jpg
| caption = Fishguard & Goodwick railway station on the day of its reopening May 14, 2012, here showing the first train arriving from Carmarthen for 48 years, passengers alighting for the first time at the newly opened station.
| caption = Fishguard & Goodwick railway station on the day of its reopening May 14, 2012, here showing the first train arriving from Carmarthen for 48 years, passengers alighting for the first time at the newly opened station.
| original = [[Great Western Railway]]
| original = [[Great Western Railway]]

Revision as of 19:17, 14 May 2012

Fishguard and Goodwick
General information
LocationPembrokeshire
Other information
Station codeFGW
History
Original companyGreat Western Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Western Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Key dates
1 August 1899 (1899-08-01)Opened as Goodwick
1 May 1904Renamed Fishguard and Goodwick
6 April 1964Regular services ceased
3 August 1964all passenger trains ceased
1965Reopened for Motorail services only
19 September 1980Closed
14 May 2012[1]Reopened for passenger services

Fishguard and Goodwick railway station is a railway station sited on the edge of the town of Goodwick, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is owned by Pembrokeshire County Council and just over .5 miles (0.80 km) from the larger Fishguard Harbour station. Following its closure in 1964 (1980 for Motorail), it reopened on 14 May 2012 following investment from Network Rail and Pembrokeshire County Council.

History

Construction of the line

The station was the planned terminus of the Rosebush and Fishguard Railway. Complications meant that, despite work having begun at Rosebush in 1878, the line was not completed by 1898 when the company (now called the North Pembrokeshire and Fishguard Railway) was purchased by the Great Western Railway Company. It is likely that this takeover was prompted by the North Pembrokeshire & Fishguard Railway's plans for a harbour at Goodwick to attract Irish traffic (the GWR had a major such port at Neyland) and/or their ambitious plan to link this new harbour to Carmarthen with their own line to break the GWR's monopoly of rail lines into west Wales.

Early years

Goodwick station opened on 1 August 1899 under GWR ownership. The station was called Goodwick until 1 May 1904 when it was renamed Fishguard and Goodwick.[2] It was a terminus until the GWR opened their extension to Fishguard Harbour in 1906 and moved their Irish ferry operation there from Neyland.[3]

Closure and subsequent usage

The station was closed on 6 April 1964 by British Railways, when local trains between Fishguard and Clarbeston Road were withdrawn. After closure to normal passenger trains the station remained in use for workmen's trains to the RNAD Trecwn, until these services were withdrawn on 1 August 1964.

From 18 June 1965 the station became the terminus of a seasonal motorail service from London, the end loading dock behind the former main (Up side) platform being used for unloading the cars. Early photographs show the station building to be shorter than it is today, with the extension carried out along with refurbishment for motorail traffic. Motorail kept the station in use each summer season until the regular service ended on 19 September 1980[4] and the occasional peak service on 16 September 1982.[5]

The station was used temporarily in June 1982, when the railway lines at Fishguard Harbour were moved and re-laid.[6]

Reopening

File:Fishguard and goodwick old Station.jpg
Early 20th century view of Fishguard and Goodwick Railway Station
Fishguard and Goodwick railway station just hours before demolition of the old station building 24 August 2011
The new Fishguard and Goodwick Railway station under construction 2012, in preparation for the station re-opening.

Reopening Fishguard & Goodwick as a rail/bus interchange had been considered by Pembrokeshire County Council for some years, and this is the reason they purchased this disused station. This was sometime before an increased service frequency on the Fishguard line was secured.

In March 2011 it was announced that Welsh Assembly Government subsidy would be provided to allow an increase in train frequency on the Fishguard line from 2 trains per day to 7 from September 12th 2011 for three years.[7]. This prompted a search for funding to re-open Fishguard & Goodwick railway station. Funding was successfully found and it was announced that the station was to re-open in March 2012. The re-opening work will cost £325,000, including the realignment of the track by Network Rail (complete by the end of 2011) and demolition of the station building (carried out in August 2011[8] between the anouncment of extra services and their launch on 12 September).[9] The reason for demolition of the station building was its being in a dangerous condition, with only one wall in a salvagable condition. Despite this, since the station is within the Goodwick Conservation Area, the demolition was in direct violation of Pembrokeshire County Council's own policy 80 (under the environment section of the Joint Unitary Development Plan For Pembrokeshire (JUDP)).[10]

The work to reopen the station was a joint operation between Pembrokeshire County Council and Network Rail. In March 2012, Network Rail announced that the station would reopen on 14 May 2012 and would be served by the seven trains each way per day which currently run through the station.[11] The station duly re-opened on 14 May 2012.[12]

References

  1. ^ Fishguard Trains 3 April 2012
  2. ^ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. pp. 106, 97. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  3. ^ Parker, Richard; Morris, John (2008) [1981]. The Railways Of Pembrokeshire. Corhampton: Noodle Books. ISBN 978-1-906419-07-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  4. ^ Parker & Morris 2008, p. 238
  5. ^ Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2010). Western Main Lines: Carmarthen To Fishguard. Midhurst: Middleton Press. figure 73. ISBN 978-1-906008-66-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  6. ^ Parker & Morris 2008, p. [page needed]
  7. ^ "Pupils' petition for more Fishguard trains pays off". BBC News. 30 March 2011.
  8. ^ "Fishguard Trains - Goodwick Station Demolished".
  9. ^ "Goodwick railway station near Fishguard to reopen". BBC News. 2 January 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  10. ^ "Policy 80". Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  11. ^ "Fishguard and Goodwick station to reopen after 50 years". Network Rail. 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  12. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-18047255

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fishguard and Goodwick railway station.
Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Clarbeston Road   Arriva Trains Wales
West Wales Line - Fishguard branch 		  Fishguard Harbour
  Historical railways  
Jordanston Halt
Line open, station closed 		  Great Western Railway
North Pembrokeshire and Fishguard Railway 		  Fishguard Harbour
Line and station open
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