Clarbeston Road railway station
{{Short description|Railway station in Pembrokeshire, Wales}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2013}}
{{Infobox station
| name = Clarbeston Road
| native_name =
| symbol_location = gb
| symbol = rail
| image = Through Clarbeston Road railway station (geograph 4611304).jpg
| caption = Clarbeston Road railway station in August 2015
| borough = Clarbeston Road, Pembrokeshire
| country = Wales
| coordinates = {{coord|51.852|-4.884|type:railwaystation_region:GB_scale:10000|display=inline,title}}
| grid_name = Grid reference
| grid_position = {{gbmapscaled|SN015209|25|SN015209}}
| owned = Network Rail
| manager = Transport for Wales
| platforms = 2
| code = CLR
| classification = DfT category F2
| original = South Wales Railway
| pregroup = Great Western Railway
| postgroup = Great Western Railway
| years = 2 January 1854
| events = Station opened as Clarbeston
| years1 = 30 August 1906
| events1 = Renamed Clarbeston Road
| mpassengers =
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2019/20 |passengers={{decrease}} 6,746}}
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2020/21 |passengers={{decrease}} 990}}
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2021/22 |passengers={{increase}} 4,660}}
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2022/23 |passengers={{increase}} 6,366}}
{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2023/24 |passengers={{increase}} 7,556}}
| footnotes = Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail & Road
}}
Clarbeston Road railway station serves villages such as Clarbeston Road, Clarbeston, Wiston, Walton East and Crundale in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The station, originally named Clarbeston, was opened by the South Wales Railway on 2 January 1854.{{cite book |last=Butt |first=R.V.J. |title=The Directory of Railway Stations |year=1995 |publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd |location=Yeovil |isbn=1-85260-508-1 |id=R508 |page=62 }}
History
A direct route to Fishguard Harbour – the Clarbeston Road and Letterston Railway (CR&LR) – was opened by the Great Western Railway on 30 August 1906,{{cite book |last=Nock |first=O.S. |author-link=Oswald Nock |title=History of the Great Western Railway, vol. III: 1923-1947 |date=September 1967 |publisher=Ian Allan Publishing |location=Shepperton |id=1584/387/DXX/967 |page=434 }} and the station at Clarbeston was renamed Clarbeston Road. As part of the CR&LR works, a number of improvements were made to the west of the station for the anticipated increase in goods traffic, but the passenger facilities were not altered because it was intended that {{stnlnk|Clunderwen}} would continue to serve as the junction station.{{cite book |last1=Parker |first1=Richard |last2=Morris |first2=John |title=The Railways of Pembrokeshire |year=2008 |orig-year=1981 |publisher=Noodle Books |location=Corhampton |isbn=978-1-906419-07-3 |pages=139–140 }}
The signal box west of the station now supervises not only the junction between the two routes but also both branches to their respective termini, all of the other boxes on both lines having been closed as part of a 1988 re-signalling scheme that saw control centralised here and colour light signals replace the surviving semaphores.[http://www.signalbox.org/branches/rb/clarbestonrd.htm South Wales at the Turn of the Century – Clarbeston Road] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602165840/http://www.signalbox.org/branches/rb/clarbestonrd.htm |date=2 June 2013 }} www.signalbox.org; retrieved 2013-11-22
Facilities
File:Clarbeston Road station (view from the side of the track).png
Clarbeston Road is an unstaffed station, with shelters, timetable posters and digital information screens on each platform; there is also a customer help point on platform 2 and a public telephone near platform 1. The platforms are linked via ramps from the adjacent road bridge (so are accessible for disabled passengers, though the eastbound ramp is quite steep and care must be taken when using it).[http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/clr/details.html Clarbeston Road station facilities] National Rail Enquiries Trains stop here by request only.
Services
The usual service pattern is one train every two hours in each direction, westwards to {{rws|Milford Haven}} and eastwards to {{rws|Manchester Piccadilly}} via {{rws|Swansea}} and {{rws|Cardiff Central}}. The branch line to/from {{rws|Fishguard Harbour}} diverges here with six direct services each way – three morning, two evening, one night – calling at the station each day Monday to Saturday. There is no direct service on Sundays.{{NRtimes|December 2016|128}} While the station serves as a request stop to/from Milford Haven, trains to/from Fishguard Harbour stop here normally.
InterCity 125 services ran through Clarbeston Road to Milford Haven until the early 1990s, ceasing in 1994.[http://www.projectmapping.co.uk/Reviews/Resources/InterCity%20mag%2093%202.jpg Intercity Magazine Network Map 1993]. Retrieved 5 December 2012
{{rail start}}
{{rail line one to two|previous={{rws|Clunderwen}}|next1={{rws|Haverfordwest}}|route1=Transport for Wales
West Wales line
Milford Haven branch|next2=Fishguard & Goodwick|route2=Transport for Wales
West Wales line
Fishguard branch |col={{KAW colour}} }}
{{Historical Rail Insert}}
{{rail line |previous={{rws|Clunderwen}}
Line & station open |next={{rws|Wolf's Castle Halt}}
Line open, station closed |route=Great Western Railway
Clarbeston Road and Letterston Railway |col={{GWR colour}} }}
{{s-end}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category-inline}}
{{stn art lrnk|CLR|SA634UH}}
{{Transport in Pembrokeshire}}
{{Railway stations in Pembrokeshire}}
Category:Railway stations in Pembrokeshire
Category:DfT Category F2 stations
Category:Former Great Western Railway stations
Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1854
Category:Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail