From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cambrian Line

Legend Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton A5 England and Wales A458 Welshpool River Severn A490 A489 Newtown A483 A489 River Severn River Severn Mid Wales Railway to Cardiff A489 River Severn Caersws Machynlleth Dovey Junction River Dyfi Borth to Carmarthen Aberystwyth Penhelig Aberdovey Tywyn Tonfanau Llwyngwril Fairbourne Morfa Mawddach to Dolgellau Barmouth Bridge Barmouth Llanaber Talybont Dyffryn Ardudwy Llanbedr Pensarn Llandanwg Harlech Tygwyn Talsarnau Llandecwyn River Dwyryd Penrhyndeudraeth Ffestiniog Railway Minffordd Welsh Highland Railway (proposed) Porthmadog Criccieth Afon Wen to Caernarfon Penychain Abererch Pwllheli

The Cambrian Line is a railway from Shrewsbury (in Shropshire, England) to Welshpool, Aberystwyth and Pwllheli. The railway runs first through the central part of Wales and then along the coast of Cardigan Bay.

The railway is very scenic, with parts travelling through the Cambrian Mountains or along the Cambrian Coast. This latter section travels over the spectacular Barmouth Bridge, which crosses the River Mawddach.

Contents 1 Route 1.1 Cambrian Line 1.2 Cambrian Coast Line 2 History 2.1 Closed Stations 3 Performance 4 Line upgrade 5 External links 6 See also 7 Footnotes

The line diverges at Dovey Junction, just after Machynlleth, to serve either Aberystwyth, or Pwllheli via the Cambrian Coast Line. The stations on these routes are listed below.

• Shrewsbury
  • Connection with the Shrewsbury-Wolverhampton line, Shrewsbury-Chester line and Welsh Marches Line.
• Welshpool
  • Connection with Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway
• Newtown
• Caersws
• Carno - closed station with strong local movement to reopen[2]
• Machynlleth
• Dovey Junction
  • Cambrian Coast Line diverges to Pwllheli (see below)
• Borth
• Aberystwyth
  • Connection with Vale of Rheidol Railway
  • Former connection with the Carmarthen-Lampeter-Aberystwyth line

• Machynlleth
• Dovey Junction
• Penhelig
• Aberdyfi
• Tywyn
  • Connection with Talyllyn Railway
• Tonfanau
• Llwyngwril
• Fairbourne
  • Connection with Fairbourne Railway
• Morfa Mawddach
• Barmouth
• Llanaber
• Talybont
• Dyffryn Ardudwy (Morfa Dyffryn)
• Llanbedr
• Pensarn
• Llandanwg
• Harlech
• Tygwyn
• Talsarnau
• Llandecwyn
• Penrhyndeudraeth
• Minffordd
  • Connection with Ffestiniog Railway
• Porthmadog
  • Connections with Ffestiniog Railway and Welsh Highland Railway
• Criccieth
• Penychain
• Abererch
• Pwllheli

The lines from Welshpool to Aberystwyth and from Dovey Junction to Pwllheli make up the surviving sections of the Cambrian Railways main line (constructed between 1855 and 1869).

The Cambrian Railways became part of the Great Western Railway and on nationalisation these lines were operated first by the Western Region of British Railways and later by the London Midland Region. In a later reorganisation, passenger services were operated by the Regional Railways Central sector. Following privatisation in the mid 1990s, passenger services were first operated by Central Trains, then by Wales & Borders Trains from 2001 and, since late 2003, by Arriva Trains Wales.

Although the line survived the Beeching Axe, the number of stations on the lines was heavily rationalised in the 1960s onwards. The stations closed include the following:

Shrewsbury to Dovey Junction:

• Buttington Junction (connection with the Cambrian Railways line to Oswestry)
• Montgomery
• Abermule
• Moat Lane Junction (connection with Mid Wales Railway to Cardiff)
• Pontdolgoch
• Carno
• Talerddig
• Llanbrynmair
• Commins Coch Halt
• Cemmaes Road (connection with the branch line to Dinas Mawddwy)

Dovey Junction to Aberystwyth:

• Glandyfi
• Ynyslas
• Llandre
• Bow Street

Dovey Junction to Pwllheli:

• Gogarth
• Abertafol
• Llangelynin
• Black Rock Halt
• Afon Wen (connection with the Afon Wen - Caernarfon line)
• The Ruabon bound platforms at Barmouth Junction were also closed in 1965 and the station renamed Morfa Mawddach.

With long sections of single line, limited passing points and tightly-diagrammed rolling stock, minor disruptions on the Cambrian Line quickly lead to compound delays and partial cancellations. While the coast line is generally a good performer, services between Aberystwyth and Birmingham New Street have deteriorated hugely since the early 2000s and are now the least punctual in Britain [3].

In Arriva Trains Wales' performance statistics the Cambrian Line is routinely the worst-performing service group.

Cambrian Line Performance Comparison ^[1]

Service Group	Punctuality 16 Sep - 13 Oct 2007	Punctuality 12 months to 13 Oct 2007
Cambrian	90.2%	88.2%
Marches	95.2%	93.7%
Wales-England	97.1%	95.8%
South, West, Central Wales	95.5%	94.0%
Valley Lines	98.1%	95.1%
North Wales Inter Urban	98.1%	97.7%
North Wales Rural	91.8%	92.3%

In October 2006, it was announced that Network Rail would pilot the European Rail Traffic Management System on the Cambrian Line. The ERTMS will allow the "safety gap" between trains using the same track to be reduced, meaning services will be more frequent. Should the pilot scheme be successful, the system is expected to be rolled out across Britain's busiest routes (notably the East Coast Main Line).

The upgrade is expected to cost £59 million and be completed by December 2008.^[2]

• The Cambrian Line
• Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth Rail Passengers' Association
• Usage statistics for stations on the line

• Railways of Shropshire
• Heart of Wales Line

1. ^ Arriva Trains Wales Performance Statistics. Source: [[1]]
2. ^ Webster, Ben (2006-10-17) "Digital sensors will reduce gap between trains during rush hour". The Times, p. 23.

v • d • e Railway lines in Wales:
InterCity lines:	North Wales Coast Line -  South Wales Main Line
Main lines:	Gloucester-Newport Line -  Shrewsbury-Chester Line -  Welsh Marches Line
Valley Lines:	█ Butetown Branch - █ City Line - █ Coryton Line -  Ebbw Valley Line - █ Maesteg Line - █ Merthyr Line - █ Rhondda Line - █ Rhymney Line - █ Vale of Glamorgan Line
Rural lines:	Borderlands Line -  Cambrian Line -  Conwy Valley Line -  Heart of Wales Line -  West Wales Line