Swansea railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Swansea | |
| Abertawe | |
|---|---|
| Image:Swansea-highst-railway.jpg | |
| Location | |
| Place | Swansea |
| Local authority | City of Swansea |
| Operations | |
| Managed by | Arriva Trains Wales |
| Platforms in use | 4 |
| Annual entry/exit | 1.386 million * |
| History | |
| Key dates | Opened 1850 |
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |
| * based on sales of tickets in 2004/05 financial year which end or originate at Swansea. Disclaimer (PDF) | |
Swansea railway station serves as the main railway station for Swansea in Wales. It is also referred to as High Street railway station and the main sign outside the station uses this name.
Contents |
[edit] Train services
Swansea is an interchange station. Many passengers travelling between England and West Wales change here.
To the east services operate along the South Wales Main Line to Cardiff Central for connections to major cities like Southampton, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh. These include First Great Western Intercity services to London Paddington, and local Arriva Trains Wales services. Local Cardiff-Swansea services are branded as "Swanline". Some Arriva Trains Wales services continue to Manchester Piccadilly or North Wales via the Welsh Marches Line, or via the Severn Tunnel to Bristol Temple Meads and beyond.
To the west, services operate along the West Wales Line to Carmarthen, then to Pembroke Dock, Milford Haven or Fishguard Harbour. These services are operated by Arriva Trains Wales, many starting from Cardiff or beyond, with the exception of a daily First Great Western service from London Paddington to Carmarthen, and a summer Saturday service from London to Pembroke Dock.
Swansea is also the southern terminus of the Arriva Trains Wales service from Shrewsbury, which travels via the Heart of Wales Line.
[edit] Facilities
The station is a terminus, standing at the end of a short branch off the South Wales Main Line and the West Wales Line, so that all through passenger trains between the two must either reverse at Swansea or omit calling there (in practice, all but a once daily Cardiff - Fishguard and v.v. service on Mondays to Saturdays, which takes a different route past Swansea, do call there).
It has four platforms, none of which are designated for exclusive use by any particular service. Rather, they are shared between train services according to availability. Intercity express trains from London almost always enter the station standard carriages first, usually at platform 2. The platforms are covered for only part of their length. Unfortunately for first-class Intercity passengers, this means that on rainy days they pay for the privilege of being nearest to the station buildings at Paddington by having no shelter when they board or alight from the first-class carriages at Swansea.
Ticket barriers are installed. When entering the platform area from the concourse, passengers have their tickets manually checked by station staff. The station's car park is integrated with the adjoining municipal multi-storey car park.
[edit] History
The station was originally opened in 1850. Until January 2004, the mail train to London was a regular service from the station: it was possible to post letters straight onto the train. Although the station was built by the South Wales Railway, which amalgamated with Great Western Railway in 1863, it was not originally on the South Wales Railway trunk line (which was planned to connect London to the ferries to Ireland) and Swansea passengers had to change at Landore, two miles to the north. (This was the case until at least 1879.) Swansea is still on a short spur from the main line. The station was renovated and extended several times in its lifetime and nothing remains of the original wooden station with a galvanised roof and two platforms.
There was great competition between the different railway companies in the Victorian period. Swansea had six stations in 1895, built by five different railway companies: High Street, St Thomas, East Dock, Riverside, Victoria, and Rutland Street (the town terminus of the Mumbles Railway). Only High Street station now remains.
[edit] References
- Railways around Swansea factsheet from Swansea Museums Service
- The South Wales Railway factsheet from Swansea Museums Service
[edit] External links
- Train times and station information for Swansea railway station from National Rail
- Street map and aerial photo of Swansea railway station from Multimap.com
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Llansamlet | Arriva Trains Wales South Wales Main Line/ West Wales Line | Gowerton | ||
| Terminus | Arriva Trains Wales Heart of Wales Line | Gowerton | ||
| Neath | First Great Western South Wales Main Line/ West Wales Line | Llanelli | ||
