Carmarthen Aberystwyth Line
| Carmarthen to Abersytwyth Line | ||||||||||||||
| Principal stations (from south to north)
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The Carmarthen to Aberystwyth Line was a standard gauge branch line of the Great Western Railway in Wales which connected Carmarthen with Aberystwyth.
At Carmarthen, the line connected with the GWR mainline from London Paddington to Fishguard.
At Aberystwyth, the line connected with the Cambrian Line.
The line also had connecting branches to Aberaeron, Llandeilo and Newcastle Emlyn
History
The first section of line between Carmarthen and Conwil was opened in 1860 by the Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway Company. The Manchester and Milford Railway later connected with the C&CR at Pencader, completing the route through to Lampeter and finally Aberystwyth in 1867.
After the Manchester and Milford Railway ran into financial difficulties, the line and its branches was taken over by the Great Western Railway by 1911.
The line closed in two stages - the northern section closed prematurely in December 1964 when a section of the line near Llanilar was damaged by floods. The remaining southern section closed to passengers in February 1965. Goods traffic continued from Carmarthen to Felin Fach on the Aberaeron branch until 1973, but the line was then closed and lifted.
Current status
In 1974 the Gwili Railway was founded and now operates a service over several miles of the line from Bronwydd Arms, north of Carmarthen. They aim to restore services between Abergwili Junction and Llanpumsaint.
In the north, the trackbed from Tregaron to Aberystwyth has been incorporated into the Ystwyth Trail cycle route. During the 1990s a narrow gauge railway was proposed starting at Llanilar but does not appear to have come to fruition.
