Tenby railway station

Tenby
Welsh: Dinbych-y-pysgod
Location
Place	Tenby
Local authority	Pembrokeshire
Grid reference	SN129005
Operations
Station code	TEN
Managed by	Arriva Trains Wales
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	76,695
2005/06	75,629
2006/07	84,598
2007/08	94,231
2008/09	92,892
2009/10	99,262
2010/11	0.105 million
2011/12	0.112 million
2012/13	0.109 million
2013/14	0.112 million
2014/15	0.121 million
History
Original company	Pembroke and Tenby Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
30 July 1863	First station opened
4 September 1866	Station resited
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Tenby from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Tenby railway station serves the town of Tenby in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It lies on the Pembroke Dock branch of the West Wales Line operated by the TOC Arriva Trains Wales, who also manage the station.

History

The first station at Tenby was opened by the Pembroke and Tenby Railway as the terminus of a line from the Pembroke direction on 6 August 1863,.^[1]

Steam excursion train from Pembroke Dock to Swansea at Tenby station in 1993

This original terminus station was low-lying and when the decision was made to extend the line to Whitland, a new railway was constructed from the existing Pembroke and Tenby line, at a point called Black Rock Junction, which then climbed to the higher level necessary for the extension.^[2] The new Tenby station was opened on 4 September 1866.^[3] The original station was then used for freight traffic and became known as "Tenby Lower Yard".^[4][5] It was closed and removed in 1965.^[6]

The present station buildings date from 1871 and were designed by James Szlumper and built in Bath stone. The original cast iron canopy is still in place.^[7] A later passenger footbridge now links the two platforms.

To the north of the station is a viaduct carrying the Whitland extension line. It has seven arches and is 136 yards (125 metres) in length. It is a Grade II listed structure.^[8]

Signalling

Tenby has had two signal boxes. The first, of timber construction, opened in 1895 and closed in 1956. Its successor opened in the same year and closed in 1988.^[9]

In 2012 the only passing loop on the Whitland to Pembroke Dock branch is located at Tenby and as such east and westbound trains are often scheduled to pass here. As there is no longer a signal box at the station, the electric token instruments for the block sections either side are operated by the train crew under the supervision of the Whitland signaller (a similar system operates on the Heart of Wales Line). Tenby has the first application of motor points worked directly by the token system.

Services

Class 158 unit of Arriva Trains Wales calls at Tenby station

The station is served by the Swansea to Pembroke Dock local trains, which run roughly every two hours each way (with some additional peak services). Some early morning and late night trains run only as far as Carmarthen. There are two trains from Manchester Piccadilly; also Great Western Railway operate here during the summer months and run a return train between London Paddington and Pembroke Dock every Saturday. This through service to London is expected to cease running following the introduction of new IEP rolling stock in 2018 due to additional gauge clearance work along the route which would be required for 26m carriages to operate.^[10]

There is also a limited Sunday service (4 trains per day each way) on the route.^[11]

References

1. Quick, M. Passenger Railway Stations in Great Britain, A Chronology. Oxford: Railway and Canal Historical Society, 2009, p. 377.
2. Parker, R., The Railways of Pembrokeshire. Southampton: Noodle Books, 2008, p.41.
3. Quick, p.377.
4. Parker, p.43
5. Cooke, R.A. Atlas of the Great Western Railway, Didcot: Wild Swan, 1988, map 124.
6. Parker, p.255
7. Lloyd, T., Orbach, J. and Scourfield, R. The Buildings of Wales - Pembrokeshire. London: Yale University Press, 2004, pp. 475-6.
8. Biddle, G. Britain's Historic Railway Buildings. Oxford: Oxford University Pressm 2003, p. 593.
9. Parker, p.250.
10. Railnews - Super Expresses may shrink inter-city network Retrieved 2015-03-21
11. GB eNRT 2015-16 Edition, Table 128

External links

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

Coordinates: 51°40′21″N 4°42′24″W / 51.67250°N 4.70667°W