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Fishguard Harbour railway station
Fishguard Harbour railway station serves the port of Fishguard Harbour, Wales. It is the terminus of one of the branches of the West Wales Line from Swansea. The area is also now served (since it reopened on 14 May 2012) by Fishguard and Goodwick railway station.
The Great Western Railway took over the North Pembrokeshire and Fishguard Railway by agreement of 12 February 1898. Its intent was to turn Fishguard into a purpose-built ocean liner port because it wanted to take trans-Atlantic passenger traffic away from Plymouth and Southampton. In preparation of this, the GWR opened its first station, Fishguard & Goodwick railway station, in 1899 when work on the new port began with the construction of Fishguard Harbour's East breakwater.
In conjunction with building the East Breakwater, a new 2 mi (3.2 km) railway would be built to connect to the liner terminal with the West Wales line. The line, which would bypass the steeper gradients and curves on this part of the original line, would have a deep cutting, embankments and two tunnels. However, within two years, the project to build the breakwater and ocean-going terminal was abandoned after it became clear silting (which could not be prevented by dredging) would prevent large ocean-going ships from ever using the port. The East Breakwater was left unfinished. Although two sections of the new railway to the proposed port terminal were completed before the project ended, they were abandoned and never used. Rail traffic would continue to use the original route to Goodwick.
Despite being unable to complete the project as envisaged, the GWR still wanted to create a new port. The 900 m (3,000 ft) North Breakwater was created in deeper water by quarrying stone from the headland at Goodwick. The quarried-out area became the new quay and terminus for the West Wales line. On 30 August 1906, Fishguard harbour station was officially opened when the Waterford and Cork ferry services were transferred from Neyland to Fishguard Harbour. Three years later, the first Cunard liner to call at Fishguard was the RMS Mauretania on 30 August 1909. However, passengers had to be transferred ashore to the waiting London train by tender due to the shallowness of the harbour.
The station is not owned by Network Rail, but by Stena Line. A large part of the station is contained within the port building, where there are seating and toilets. However, there are no railway ticket machines, and the station is staffed only by Stena Line personnel; no rail staff are employed there. This means there is no rail ticket office. Most passengers using the station have SailRail tickets issued at Rosslare Europort or another station in Ireland. Other passengers travelling from Fishguard by train must purchase their tickets on board their train, at a different station, or online. The station has step-free access throughout and the station's owners, Stena Line, permit smoking on the platform. The station also has both long and short stay parking. The minimum connection time from Fishguard Harbour[clarification needed][to where?] is seven minutes, and when bus replacement services are operating, the buses leave from the car park adjacent to the level crossing.
After the ban on smoking in public became law in Wales in April 2007, the station became the only one in the UK where it was still permitted. Stena Line allowed passengers to continue to smoke on the platform because it was deemed too dangerous for them to smoke at the nearest point where it was technically permissible: a level crossing over a busy road. Smoking is banned at all stations operated by Network Rail.
Since the station is located in the harbour, its primary purpose has always been providing links with sea going transport. As such, there have always been daily services to and from Fishguard Harbour which coincide with the ferry services to Rosslare in Ireland.
In 2003 the remaining First Great Western Fishguard services were withdrawn when the franchise was taken over by Wales & Borders. This ended almost a century of direct services to or from London Paddington. However, through services to and from other stations were added to the timetable.
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Fishguard Harbour railway station
Fishguard Harbour railway station serves the port of Fishguard Harbour, Wales. It is the terminus of one of the branches of the West Wales Line from Swansea. The area is also now served (since it reopened on 14 May 2012) by Fishguard and Goodwick railway station.
The Great Western Railway took over the North Pembrokeshire and Fishguard Railway by agreement of 12 February 1898. Its intent was to turn Fishguard into a purpose-built ocean liner port because it wanted to take trans-Atlantic passenger traffic away from Plymouth and Southampton. In preparation of this, the GWR opened its first station, Fishguard & Goodwick railway station, in 1899 when work on the new port began with the construction of Fishguard Harbour's East breakwater.
In conjunction with building the East Breakwater, a new 2 mi (3.2 km) railway would be built to connect to the liner terminal with the West Wales line. The line, which would bypass the steeper gradients and curves on this part of the original line, would have a deep cutting, embankments and two tunnels. However, within two years, the project to build the breakwater and ocean-going terminal was abandoned after it became clear silting (which could not be prevented by dredging) would prevent large ocean-going ships from ever using the port. The East Breakwater was left unfinished. Although two sections of the new railway to the proposed port terminal were completed before the project ended, they were abandoned and never used. Rail traffic would continue to use the original route to Goodwick.
Despite being unable to complete the project as envisaged, the GWR still wanted to create a new port. The 900 m (3,000 ft) North Breakwater was created in deeper water by quarrying stone from the headland at Goodwick. The quarried-out area became the new quay and terminus for the West Wales line. On 30 August 1906, Fishguard harbour station was officially opened when the Waterford and Cork ferry services were transferred from Neyland to Fishguard Harbour. Three years later, the first Cunard liner to call at Fishguard was the RMS Mauretania on 30 August 1909. However, passengers had to be transferred ashore to the waiting London train by tender due to the shallowness of the harbour.
The station is not owned by Network Rail, but by Stena Line. A large part of the station is contained within the port building, where there are seating and toilets. However, there are no railway ticket machines, and the station is staffed only by Stena Line personnel; no rail staff are employed there. This means there is no rail ticket office. Most passengers using the station have SailRail tickets issued at Rosslare Europort or another station in Ireland. Other passengers travelling from Fishguard by train must purchase their tickets on board their train, at a different station, or online. The station has step-free access throughout and the station's owners, Stena Line, permit smoking on the platform. The station also has both long and short stay parking. The minimum connection time from Fishguard Harbour[clarification needed][to where?] is seven minutes, and when bus replacement services are operating, the buses leave from the car park adjacent to the level crossing.
After the ban on smoking in public became law in Wales in April 2007, the station became the only one in the UK where it was still permitted. Stena Line allowed passengers to continue to smoke on the platform because it was deemed too dangerous for them to smoke at the nearest point where it was technically permissible: a level crossing over a busy road. Smoking is banned at all stations operated by Network Rail.
Since the station is located in the harbour, its primary purpose has always been providing links with sea going transport. As such, there have always been daily services to and from Fishguard Harbour which coincide with the ferry services to Rosslare in Ireland.
In 2003 the remaining First Great Western Fishguard services were withdrawn when the franchise was taken over by Wales & Borders. This ended almost a century of direct services to or from London Paddington. However, through services to and from other stations were added to the timetable.