Llandeilo railway station

Llandeilo Add→{{rail-interchange}}
General information
Location	Carmarthenshire
Managed by	Arriva Trains Wales
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	LLL
History
Opened	1852

Llandeilo railway station (formerly "Landilo Junction for the Carmarthen Line") serves the small town of Llandeilo, West Wales. The station is 30¾ miles (50 km) north east of Swansea on the Heart of Wales Line.

The station is located below the eastern side of the town beside the River Tywi. Dinefwr Castle is within walking distance.

The station was built by the Llanelly Railway, who reached the town from the Llanelli direction in 1852. An extension on to Llandovery was constructed by the subsidiary Vale of Towy Railway (opening in 1858), whilst the branch line to Carmarthen followed in 1864/5 and a direct line to Swansea Victoria along the Gower Peninsula in 1866/7. The following year saw the Central Wales Extension Railway reach Llandovery, putting Llandeilo on a through route to Craven Arms but also giving the London and North Western Railway access to the Llanelly company's territory and lines through a new joint lease of the VoTR. The LNWR took full advantage of this and by 1873 had secured full access to & control of the Swansea & Carmarthen routes, leaving the L.R with only half its peak track mileage & in such a poor financial position that it was forced to lease its remaining lines to the Great Western Railway the same year. Thereafter the LNWR became the main passenger operator, with the Great Western running just a few trains between Llanelli & Llandovery.

In its heyday, the station had four platforms serving trains for the Heart of Wales line as well as trains from Carmarthen via the Llandeilo - Abergwili Jcn branch line (closed in 1963). The direct line to Swansea Victoria has also gone and the surviving passenger trains now run via the old Llanelly Railway main line south of Pontarddulais and the West Wales Line to reach Swansea.

The station building has been demolished, and between 2008 & the spring of 2010 had only one platform in use as the passing loop here had been temporarily decommissioned (i.e. locked out of use) due to a lack of spare parts for the (obsolete) point machines. The second (southbound) platform was reinstated in May 2010 along with the loop following the replacement of the points at both ends with new electrically worked units (all five loops were treated as part of a renewal programme costing over £4 million).

All trains serving the station are operated by Arriva Trains Wales.

Services

There are four trains a day in each direction southbound to Swansea and northbound to Shrewsbury from Monday to Saturday; a fifth service runs to Llandovery and back to Swansea in the a.m peak (except Saturdays). Two trains each way call on Sundays.

External links

• Train times and station information for Llandeilo railway station from National Rail

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Ffairfach		Arriva Trains Wales Heart of Wales Line		Llangadog
	Disused railways
Llandilo Bridge Line and station closed		London and North Western Railway Llanelly Railway		Talley Road Line open, station closed