Heart of Wales Line
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The Heart of Wales Line is the railway line from Llanelli to Craven Arms. It crossed the earlier Mid Wales Railway at Builth Road, but was unable to get any nearer to the town of Builth Wells. It serves several other fashionable spa towns en-route, as well as more rural centres. The line outlasted the Mid-Wales route, which closed in the 1960s.
Historically the line was known as the Central Wales Line and also included routes through Gowerton, where the railway crossed the West Wales Line and ran through Dunvant and Killay then down through the Clyne Valley to Blackpill and then along the sea wall to Swansea Bay Station, (near the former slip bridge) before finally reaching Swansea Victoria. This section, originally built by the Llanelly Railway and Dock Company to compete with the Great Western Railway and break the monopoly they held on Swansea Dock, closed in 1964. Nationalization of the railways had removed the need for competing routes, and the running down and closure of Swansea North Dock ended the need for freight services on this path.
As a rural branch line the remainder of the Heart of Wales Line survived the Beeching axe since it also carried extensive freight traffic and served the steelworks at Bynea and industrial areas such as Ammanford and Pontarddulais, linking them with the docks at Llanelli. During engineering work the line is still used as a diversionary freight route but normally sees only light passenger services.
The line is single track throughout. There is one passing loop, at Llandrindod
[edit] Services today
As of 2007, the service runs 4 or 5 trains per day in each direction, and 2 on Sundays. Trains are 1 or 2 carriages each, with a small team of staff and a buffet trolley. As the train doesn't run late at night, the staff do not have to do deal with drunken behaviour and are able to maintain a positive and friendly atmosphere.
The Welsh scenery is a particularly attractive feature of this line.
Some stations are request stops. Places served by the route include:
Wales
- Llanelli (West Wales Line: Gowerton, Swansea)
- Bynea
- Llangennech
- Pontarddulais
- Pantyffynnon
- Ammanford
- Llandybie
- Ffairfach
- Llandeilo
- Llangadog
- Llanwrda
- Llandovery
- Cynghordy
- Sugar Loaf
- Llanwrtyd Wells
- Llangammarch Wells
- Garth
- Cilmery
- Builth Wells
- Llandrindod Wells
- Penybont
- Dolau
- Llanbister
- Llangynllo
- Knucklas
- Knighton
England
At Craven Arms, the line joins the Welsh Marches Line to Church Stretton and Shrewsbury.
Passenger services are operated by Arriva Trains Wales using Class 150 or Class 153 diesel multiple units.
[edit] External links
| 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 | ||||||||||
