St Clears railway station

The station opened 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=203 }} It was on the section of the South Wales Railway which opened that day between the temporary station near Carmarthen and {{stnlnk|Haverfordwest}},{{cite book |last=MacDermot |first=E.T. |title=History of the Great Western Railway, vol. I: 1833-1863 |year=1927 |publisher=Great Western Railway |location=Paddington |pages=572–3,865 }} and was situated between {{stnlnk|Sarnau}} and {{stnlnk|Whitland}}.{{cite book |last=Conolly |first=W. Philip |title=British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer |edition=5th |date=January 1976 |publisher=Ian Allan |location=Shepperton |isbn=0-7110-0320-3 |id=EX/0176 |at=p. 7, section A1 }}

The station closed on 15 June 1964. An attempt to reopen the station in 1973 was made by five local authorities and organisations, together with the Department of the Environment, which jointly agreed to fund construction of a new station at a total cost of £5,400 ({{Inflation|UK|236|1905|r=-2|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}{{Inflation-fn|UK|group=lower-alpha}}).{{cite journal|title=Topics: St. Clears to reopen|journal=The Railway Magazine|date=June 1973|volume=119|issue=866|page=269}} The new station would have consisted of concrete platforms adjoining both tracks and timber waiting shelters provided with electric lighting. It had been hoped that works would be swiftly completed so that the first trains could call at St Clears by the end of Summer 1973, but this did not materialise.

{{See also|Proposed railway stations in Wales}}There has long been a local campaign for the reopening of the station, supported by Angela Burns AM and William Powell AM.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/7865531.stm |title=Station campaign picks up steam |date=4 February 2009 |work=BBC News Online |access-date=26 November 2010 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Fresh-support-calls-reopen-town-s-rail-station/story-15028372-detail/story.html |title=Fresh support for calls to reopen town's rail station |date=25 January 2012 |work=Carmarthen Journal |access-date=25 January 2012 }}

Locals started a Facebook campaign to reopen the station in 2010 which drew in thousands of supporters. The St Clears Times ran a community poll from 2010 and 95% of people who voted were in favour of opening the station.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}

There have been recent proposals to reopen the station as part of the Welsh Governments Rail infrastructure investment.{{Cite web|url=http://www.wrexham.com/news/two-new-railway-stations-planned-for-wrexham-as-part-of-welsh-government-rail-infrastructure-improvements-130554.html|title=Two New Railway Stations Planned for Wrexham as Part of Welsh Government Rail Infrastructure Improvements}} In 2019 it was shortlisted by Welsh Government for further assessment, along with three other stations (from an original longlist of 12) as part of a national strategy to improve transport links.{{Cite web|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/new-train-stations-wales-rail-16826895|title=The new railway stations which could be built in Wales|last=Mosalski|first=Ruth|date=2019-08-28|website=walesonline|access-date=2019-09-18}} In 2020, funding was secured to reopen the station by 2024.{{cite news|publisher=Tivyside Advertiser|date=3 December 2020|author=Ruth Davies|title=St Clears' new rail station welcomed by Carmarthenshire County Council|url=https://www.tivysideadvertiser.co.uk/news/pembrokeshire_news/18917340.st-clears-new-rail-station-welcomed-carmarthenshire-county-council/|access-date=7 December 2020}} Some initial activities (groundwork and surveying) were carried out in February and March 2022.{{cite news |title=Work begins to re-open mainline railway station closed for over 50 years |url=https://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/19897505.work-begins-re-open-st-clears-station-haverfordwest-carmarthen-line/ |work=Western Telegraph |date=4 February 2022 |language=en}} Final design work has not been completed and a timetable for construction of the new station has yet to be announced.{{Cite news |last=Davies |first=Ruth |date=20 January 2023 |title=New St Clears station at Pembrokeshire gateway is 'long overdue' |work=Western Telegraph |url=https://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/23264010.new-st-clears-station-pembrokeshire-gateway-long-overdue/ |access-date=10 February 2023}}

{{Historical Rail Start}}

{{rail line |previous={{stnlnk|Sarnau}}
Line open, station closed |next={{stnlnk|Whitland}}
Line and station open |route=Great Western Railway
South Wales Railway |col={{GWR colour}} }}

{{Future rail insert |text=Future services }}

{{rail line|route=Transport for Wales
West Wales line|previous=Carmarthen|next=Whitland|col={{KAW colour}}|lightcol=}}

{{s-end}}

• West Wales lines
• Transport for Wales
• Proposed railway stations in Wales

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• [http://www.npemap.org.uk/tiles/map.html#228,217,1 St Clears Station on navigable 1946 O.S. map]

{{Proposed rail infrastructure projects in the United Kingdom}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Clears Railway Station}}

Category:Disused railway stations in Carmarthenshire

Category:Former Great Western Railway stations

Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1854

Category:Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1964

Category:Beeching closures in Wales

Category:Proposed railway stations in Wales

Category:St Clears

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