:Dovey Junction railway station
{{Short description|Railway station in Powys, Wales}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox station
| name = Dovey Junction
| native_name = {{langx|cy|Cyffordd Dyfi}}
| symbol_location = gb
| symbol = rail
| image = Dovey Junction Aug2024.jpg
| caption = Platforms 1 & 2a with 2b in the distance (2024)
| country = Wales
| coordinates = {{coord|52.564|N|3.924|W|type:railwaystation_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| grid_name = Grid reference
| grid_position = {{gbmapscaled|SN697980|25|SN697980}}
| manager = Transport for Wales
| platforms = 2
| code = DVY
| classification = DfT category F2
| opened = 1863
| years1 = 1 July 1904
| events1 = Renamed Dovey Junction
| mpassengers =
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2019/20 |passengers={{decrease}} 4,292 |interchange={{pad|1em}}{{decrease}} 8,097}}
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2020/21 |passengers={{decrease}} 1,692 |interchange={{pad|1em}}{{decrease}} 920}}
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2021/22 |passengers={{increase}} 7,030 |interchange={{pad|1em}}{{increase}} 2,575}}
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2022/23 |passengers={{increase}} 9,190 |interchange={{pad|1em}}{{increase}} 4,370}}
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2023/24 |passengers={{increase}} 14,610 |interchange={{pad|1em}}{{increase}} 7,847}}
| footnotes = Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
}}
Dovey Junction ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ʌ|v|iː|-}} {{respell|DUH|vee|-}}; {{langx|cy|Cyffordd Dyfi}}) is a railway station on the Cambrian Line in Wales. It is the junction where the line splits into the line to {{rws|Aberystwyth}} and the Cambrian Coast Line to {{rws|Pwllheli}}. Passenger services are provided by Transport for Wales. There is a single island platform.
The station is in Powys, about {{convert|400|m|yd|disp=flip}} north-east of the junction of three counties: the current principal areas of Ceredigion, Powys and Gwynedd, corresponding to the traditional counties of Cardiganshire, Montgomeryshire and Merionethshire.
The station is in the midst of the large Dyfi National Nature Reserve, near the Cardigan Bay coast. There is no settlement here but, contrary to common belief,{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEeo-pchVkk |title=The Most Isolated Station in Wales - Dovey Junction |date=2024-05-02 |last=Geoff Marshall |access-date=2025-05-16 |via=YouTube}} it is not completely isolated: a {{convert|1|km|mi|disp=flip|adj=on|1}} footpath provides passenger access to and from the hamlet of Glandyfi in Ceredigion, and to a main road (the A487).{{cite AV media |people=Geoff Marshall |date=2024-05-03 |title=The Most Isolated Station in Wales - Dovey Junction |language=en |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEeo-pchVkk |access-date=2024-05-03 |time=8:45 |location=Wales |publisher=Geoff Marshall }}
History
The station was opened in 1863 as Glandovey Junction. It was renamed Dovey Junction in 1904.{{cite news |author= |title=Cambrian Railway Company. Alteration of Station Name |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001893/19040716/007/0001 |newspaper=Montgomeryshire Echo |location=Wales |date=16 July 1904 |access-date=7 December 2017 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}
The station has been rebuilt twice in recent years: the original Cambrian Railways buildings were first replaced in the 1970s by a flat-roofed station building. This building was subsequently replaced in the 1990s by a simple bus shelter, having fallen into a state of disrepair and being far larger than required at this remote location.
The station platforms were raised in 2008 in conjunction with raising of the tracks, to reduce the likelihood of closure of this section of line due to flooding. The work was part of a major programme of work on the Cambrian Line, including ERTMS signalling to replace the previous RETB system and an extended (dynamic) passing loop at Welshpool to permit running an hourly service from Shrewsbury-Aberystwyth in the future.
Dovey Junction is often quoted as a defining feature of the Great Western Railway in Wales: its inheritance of junctions in unlikely and inconvenient locations. Other examples are Moat Lane Junction, Talyllyn Junction, Afon Wen and Barmouth Junction (renamed Morfa Mawddach in 1960).
Services
File:158 Dovey Junction.jpg calls at Dovey Junction (2024)]]
Trains call at least every two hours in each direction throughout the day (Mon–Sat), rising to once an hour during the morning and afternoon peaks and into the early evening. Platform 2 (east side) is used by services to/from {{rws|Borth}} and {{rws|Aberystwyth}} and platform 1 (west side) by trains along the coast to {{rws|Barmouth}} and {{rws|Pwllheli}}. Most trains serve both branches, with units joining or dividing at {{rws|Machynlleth}} to make a 4-coach set east of there, though some trains (especially on Sundays) run between Birmingham or Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth only (some trains on both branches also start or end at Machynlleth).{{NRtimes|May 2017|76}} Platform 2 is split into 2a at the north end, alongside a passing loop, used by trains bound for Shrewsbury and Birmingham and 2b at the south end used by services bound for Aberystwyth allowing the branch to have a clock face hourly service at peak times.
On Sundays, there is a 2-hourly service between Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth all year, plus three trains each way in summer to/from Pwllheli but just a single train each way in the winter months.
{{s-rail-start|noclear=yes}}
{{s-rail|title=National Rail}}
{{s-rail-national |previous=Borth |next=Machynlleth |toc=Transport for Wales|route=Birmingham International-Aberystwyth |rows2=2 }}
{{s-rail-national |previous=Penhelig |toc=Transport for Wales|route=Shrewsbury-Pwllheli |hide2=yes }}
{{historical rail insert}}
{{rail line two to one |previous1={{stnlnk|Penhelig}}
Line and station open |previous2={{stnlnk|Glandyfi}}
Line open, station closed |next={{stnlnk|Machynlleth}}
Line and station open |route=Cambrian Railways
Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway |col={{Cambrian colour}} }}
{{s-end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite magazine|title=The end of Dovey Jct's semaphores|page=14|issue=82|date=July 1988|magazine=Rail|publisher=EMAP National Publications|issn=0953-4563|oclc=49953699}}
External links
{{commons category-inline|Dovey Junction railway station}}
{{stn art lrnk|DVY|SY208SU}}
{{Transport in Powys}}
Category:Railway stations in Powys
Category:DfT Category F2 stations
Category:Former Cambrian Railway stations
Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1863
Category:Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail