St Clears | |
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General information | |
Location |
St Clears,
Carmarthenshire Wales |
Coordinates | 51°49′42″N 4°29′32″W / 51.8283°N 4.4923°W |
Grid reference | SN283173 |
Platforms | 2 |
Other information | |
Status | Disused |
History | |
Original company | South Wales Railway |
Pre-grouping | Great Western Railway |
Post-grouping | Great Western Railway |
Key dates | |
2 January 1854 | Station opened |
15 June 1964 | Station closed |
St Clears railway station served the town of St Clears, Carmarthenshire, Wales between 1854 and 1964. It was on the West Wales Line.
The station opened on 2 January 1854. [1] It was on the section of the South Wales Railway which opened that day between the temporary station near Carmarthen and Haverfordwest, [2] and was situated between Sarnau and Whitland. [3]
The station closed on 15 June 1964. [1] 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 (equivalent to £27,000 in 2021 [a]). [4] The new station would have consisted of concrete platforms adjoining both tracks and timber waiting shelters provided with electric lighting. [4] 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. [4]
There has long been a local campaign for the reopening of the station, supported by Angela Burns AM and William Powell AM. [5] [6]
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]
There have been recent proposals to reopen the station as part of the Welsh Governments Rail infrastructure investment. [7] 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. [8] In 2020, funding was secured to reopen the station by 2024. [9] Some initial activities (groundwork and surveying) were carried out in February and March 2022. [10]Final design work has not been completed and a timetable for construction of the new station has yet to be announced. [11]
Preceding station | Historical railways | Following station | ||
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Sarnau Line open, station closed |
Great Western Railway South Wales Railway |
Whitland Line and station open | ||
Future services | ||||
Carmarthen |
Transport for Wales West Wales line |
Whitland |