Cambrian Line

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Cambrian Line
Principal stations
          Shrewsbury
  for Welsh Marches Line
  for Heart of Wales Line
  for Shrewsbury to Chester Line
  for Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line
  Welshpool
  Newtown
  Caersws
  Machynlleth
  Dovey Junction
Penhelig Borth
Aberdovey    Aberystwyth
Tywyn
Tonfanau
Llwyngwril
Fairbourne
Morfa Mawddach
Barmouth
Llanaber
Talybont
Dyffryn Ardudwy
Llanbedr
Pensarn
Llandanwg
Harlech
Tygwyn
Talsarnau
Llandecwyn
Penrhyndeudraeth
Minffordd
Porthmadog
Criccieth
Penychain
Abererch
Pwllheli

The Cambrian Line is a railway from Shrewsbury (in Shropshire, England) to Welshpool, Aberystwyth and Pwllheli. The railway runs first through the central part of Wales and then along the coast of Cardigan Bay.

The railway is very scenic, with parts travelling through the Cambrian Mountains or along the Cambrian Coast. This latter section travels over the spectacular Barmouth Bridge, which crosses the River Mawddach.

Route

The line diverges at Dyfi Junction, just after Machynlleth, to serve either Aberystwyth, or Pwllheli via the Cambrian Coast Line. The stations on these routes are listed below.

Cambrian Line

Cambrian Coast Line

History

The lines from Welshpool to Aberystwyth and from Dyfi Junction to Pwllheli make up the surviving sections of the Cambrian Railways main line (constructed between 1855 and 1869).

The Cambrian Railways became part of the Great Western Railway and on nationalisation these lines were operated first by the Western Region of British Railways and later by the London Midland Region. In a later reorganisation, passenger services were operated by the Regional Railways Central sector. Following privatisation in the mid 1990s, passenger services were first operated by Central Trains, then by Wales & Borders Trains from 2001 and, since late 2003, by Arriva Trains Wales.

Closed Stations

Although the line survived the Beeching Axe, the number of stations on the lines was heavily rationalised in the 1960s onwards. The stations closed include the following:

Shrewsbury to Dovey Junction:

Dovey Junction to Aberystwyth:

Dovey Junction to Pwllheli:

Performance

With long sections of single line, limited passing points and tightly-diagrammed rolling stock, minor disruptions on the Cambrian Line quickly lead to compound delays and partial cancellations. While the coast line is generally a good performer, services between Aberystwyth and Birmingham New Street have deteriorated hugely since the early 2000s and are now the least punctual in Britain [2].

In Arriva Trains Wales' monthly performance statistics, the Cambrian Line is routinely the worst-performing service group.

Cambrian Line Performance [1]
Period Ending Punctuality
10 December 2005 76.6%
7 January 2006 85.9%
4 February 2006 86.4%
5 March 2006 84.1%
31 March 2006 82.6%
29 April 2006 80.8%
27 May 2006 85.7%
24 June 2006 79.5%
22 July 2006 82.8%
19 August 2006 79.6%
16 September 2006 86.2%
14 October 2006 86.7%
11 November 2006 84.2%
9 December 2006 81.8%

Line upgrade

In October 2006, it was announced that Network Rail would pilot the European Rail Traffic Management System on the Cambrian Line. The ERTMS will allow the "safety gap" between trains using the same track to be reduced, meaning services will be more frequent. Should the pilot scheme be successful, the system is expected to be rolled out across Britain's busiest routes (notably the East Coast Main Line).

The upgrade is expected to cost £59 million and be completed by December 2008.[2]

External links

See also



Railway lines in Wales:
Main lines:  Gloucester-Newport Line   North Wales Coast Line   Shrewsbury-Chester Line   South Wales Main Line   Welsh Marches Line 
Valley lines:           Butetown Branch            City Line            Coryton Line            Ebbw Valley Line            Maesteg Line 
          Merthyr Line            Rhondda Line            Rhymney Line            Vale of Glamorgan Line 
Rural lines:  Borderlands Line   Cambrian Line   Conwy Valley Line   Heart of Wales Line   West Wales Line 

Footnotes

  1. Trains arriving at destination within 10 minutes of schedule. Source: [[1]]
  2. Webster, Ben (2006-10-17) "Digital sensors will reduce gap between trains during rush hour". The Times, p. 23.