Llandudno Junction railway station

Llandudno Junction
Welsh: Cyffordd Llandudno
Llandudno Junction railway station showing platforms 3 & 4
Location
Place	Llandudno Junction
Local authority	Conwy County Borough
Coordinates
Grid reference	SH794778
Operations
Station code	LLJ
Managed by	Arriva Trains Wales
Number of platforms	4
DfT category	C2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	0.236 million
2005/06	0.243 million
2006/07	0.250 million
2007/08	0.268 million
2008/09	0.281 million
2009/10	0.313 million
2010/11	0.334 million
2011/12	0.356 million
2012/13	0.345 million
2013/14	0.342 million
2014/15	0.341 million
History
Original company	Chester and Holyhead Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London Midland and Scottish Railway
1 October 1858 (1858-10-01)	First station opened
16 June 1863	Conwy Valley Line opened
1 October 1897	Present station opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Llandudno Junction from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Llandudno Junction railway station (Welsh: Cyffordd Llandudno) is on the Crewe to Holyhead North Wales Coast Line. The station is managed by Arriva Trains Wales, although Virgin Trains also serves it.

As a junction for trains to Llandudno and the Conwy Valley Line, Llandudno Junction is the busiest station in North Wales, in terms of the frequency of services, and is also one of the busiest in terms of passenger numbers.

History

The original station (located to the west of the current station) was opened on 1 October 1858 and served the branch line to Llandudno. Built by the St. George's Harbour and Railway Company in 1858, this branch line heads north through Deganwy before terminating in the town. Prior to the completion of the junction station, the branch line trains from Llandudno ran through to Conwy.

This was followed by the opening of a second branch line in 1863 - the Conwy Valley Line - which headed south and was built by the Conway and Llanrwst Railway, and became part of the LNWR in 1867. It follows the valley of the River Conwy to Llanrwst (where it originally terminated) and Betws-y-Coed (a later terminus in 1869), then follows the Lledr Valley and a two mile long tunnel to terminate at Blaenau Ffestiniog, where passengers can join the Ffestiniog Railway.

Initially the Conwy Valley line ran into a separate platform on the south side of the station, and a refreshment room was built in 1864. However, the station needed to enlarge in order to cope with both mainline and branch-line traffic, and on 1 October 1897 the present station was opened on a much larger site, the two island platforms offering six through lines with two bays at each end. The opening of the new station allowed for the demolition of the former station, but also entailed a diverting of the Conwy Valley branch, which now joined the mainline some half a mile further east. The old formation was used to store locomotives.

Three of the platforms on the southern side (both bays and the down loop) were taken out of use in 1968 when the easternmost of the two signal boxes was closed and the track layout altered. In 1983 the branch junction was again moved slightly eastwards to allow for a new freight terminal (now disused) to be built to replace the original goods yard and another at nearby Colwyn Bay that had been closed down prior to the start of the A55 road widening scheme the previous year.

The 1985-built Llandudno Junction signal box

The station was also remodelled once more & resignalled at this time and in 1985 a new power signal box was commissioned at the western end, which now controls the station area & junctions along with the main line between Colwyn Bay & Conwy and the northern end of the Conwy Valley branch (using the Electric Token system). The token machine for the branch is located at the station rather than in the signal box for operational convenience, allowing drivers to collect or return their token (with the cooperation of the signaller) whilst station work is undertaken rather than having to make an additional stop at the box to make the exchange.

The station was also formerly the site of a motive power depot (which closed in 1966). It was given the code 7A by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, which was altered to 6G by British Railways in March 1952. This had been located just south east of the station, and its site, together with the former adjoining goods yard, now have been redeveloped, but the new flyover road across the site bears the name 6G.

Layout

Llandudno Junction and branches
Legend North Wales Coast Line to Chester Conwy Valley Line to Blaenau Ffestiniog Llandudno Junction Branch line to Deganwy and Llandudno North Wales Coast Line to Holyhead

Virgin Trains Class 221 at platform 3, bound for Holyhead.

The station currently has four operational platforms:

• Platform 1 is used by eastbound trains to Chester, Crewe, Birmingham New Street, Cardiff Central, London Euston and Blaenau Ffestiniog. It is also signalled for use by trains to Llandudno.
• Platform 2 is a bay platform used by the hourly shuttle service to Llandudno. It is also used for stabling trains overnight.
• Platform 3 is a bidirectional platform which can be used by all services. It is mainly used for westbound trains, but at busy periods can be used for eastbound trains as well.
• Platform 4 is used by services to Bangor, Holyhead and Llandudno. It is also signalled for trains to Blaenau Ffestiniog.

A bus shelter in the station car park is numbered as platform 5, and is used for local bus services as well as rail replacement services when the railway is closed for engineering work.

Services

175112 on a North Wales Coast Line service passes 150264 operating a Conwy Valley Line service, both headed to Llandudno.

• Arriva Trains Wales provides an hourly service from either Birmingham International or Cardiff Central to Holyhead via Shrewsbury, Chester and Bangor.
• Arriva Trains Wales provide an hourly service from Manchester Piccadilly to Llandudno. A shuttle service also operates giving the Llandudno branch a half hourly service throughout most of the day.
• Arriva Trains Wales operate six trains per day each way on the Conwy Valley Line to Blaenau Ffestiniog.
• Arriva Trains Wales operate one daily limited-stop Premier service between Holyhead and Cardiff Central.
• Virgin Trains operate a number of services from London Euston to Holyhead and Bangor. They also operate two trains on weekdays between Birmingham New Street and Crewe-Bangor/Holyhead.

On Sundays services run hourly to Holyhead and Crewe on the main line, along with a half-hourly shuttle to Llandudno (summer only) and there is also two trains to London. There are also three trains each way on the Blaenau Ffestiniog branch between May and early September (a thrice daily rail-replacement bus service runs for the remainder of the year).

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Glan Conwy		Arriva Trains Wales Conwy Valley Line		Deganwy
Colwyn Bay		Arriva Trains Wales North-South "Premier" service		Bangor
Colwyn Bay		Arriva Trains Wales North Wales Coast Line		Conwy
				Deganwy
		Virgin Trains London Euston-Holyhead		Bangor

References

The Conwy Valley Line by W.G. Rear, Foxline Publishing, 1991

External links

• Train times and station information for Llandudno Junction railway station from National Rail
• Greatorme.org.uk, Llandudno Junction and North Wales Train Services 1947 and 2003.
• 6G Llandudno Junction, Loco shed 6G