Roman Bridge railway station

Roman Bridge railway station (Welsh: Pont Rufeinig) is a request stop passenger station in the Lledr Valley, Wales, on the Conwy Valley Line from Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog, which is operated by Transport for Wales Rail.

Roman Bridge Welsh: Pont Rufeinig
Roman Bridge station in October 2019.
General information
Location	Lledr Valley, Conwy Wales
Coordinates	53.0443°N 3.9214°W / 53.0443; -3.9214
Grid reference	SH712514
Managed by	Transport for Wales Rail
Platforms	1
Other information
Station code	RMB
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Original company	London and North Western Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Key dates
22 July 1879	Opened
Passengers
2018/19	1,094
2019/20	720
2020/21	64
2021/22	472
2022/23	450
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

It is sited 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Blaenau Ffestiniog and is the last station in the Lledr valley before the 2.2-mi-long (3.5-km) Ffestiniog tunnel is reached.

The station is unmanned and does not serve a village. It is named after a nearby ancient bridge over the River Lledr, that carries a minor highway from the A470 road to scattered hill farms at Blaenau Dolwyddelan.

History

The station was opened on 22 July 1879 when the London and North Western Railway opened an extension of the Conwy Valley line from Betws-y-Coed to Blaenau Ffestiniog.^[1] Early Baedeker guide books to Great Britain state that there is no explanation for the name, though the Roman road Sarn Helen is known to have passed down the valley on its way from Canovium (in the Conwy Valley) to Tomen y Mur, at Trawsfynydd making a crossing at this point feasible.

The station was host to two LMS caravans from 1935 to 1939. A camping coach was also positioned here by the London Midland Region from 1954 to 1956.^[2]

The station building still stands and is well maintained as a residence - it was offered for sale in 2013 for £450,000 as a private home (with 10 acres of land), after previous use as a holiday cottage.^[3]

Facilities

The unstaffed station has digital CIS screens. There is a waiting shelter, pay phone and timetable poster board for train running information provision.^[4]

Services

Five southbound and six northbound trains call on request Mondays to Saturdays (approximately every three hours), with three trains each way on Sundays between May and early September.^[5]

Services were temporarily suspended in February 2020 and replaced by road transport due to flooding of the line north of Llanrwst caused by Storm Ciara. Following completion of the work to repair the storm damage, services at the station were reinstated on 28 September 2020.^[6]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Dolwyddelan		Transport for Wales Conwy Valley Line		Blaenau Ffestiniog

References

1. Quick, Michael (2022) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF). version 5.04. Railway & Canal Historical Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2022.
2. McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Vol. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. pp. 22 & 50. ISBN 1-870119-48-7.
3. "Yours for £450,000 - one of Wales' most remote railway stations" Cresci, Elena Wales Online article 27 April 2013; Retrieved 31 May 2017
4. Roman Bridge station facilities National Rail Enquiries
5. Table 102 National Rail timetable, December 2019
6. "Conwy Valley Line opens after £2.2m flood repairs". BBC, 28 September 2020. 27 September 2020.

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2010). Bala to Llandudno. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 70-71. ISBN 9781906008871. OCLC 668198724.

External links

• Conwy Valley Railway
• Train times and station information for Roman Bridge railway station from National Rail