Fishguard and Goodwick railway station
Encyclopedia
Fishguard and Goodwick railway station is sited on the edge of the town of Goodwick
, Pembrokeshire. It is just over half a mile away from the larger Fishguard Harbour station
but is much better situated for local rail travellers, in particular for providing bus connections. Despite this the station is currently (July 2011) closed. This has been the situation for many years and is mainly due to the rail service on the line (currently 2 trains per day connecting with Stena Line ferries, one of which is in the dead of night) being almost useless to local passengers. The station building is in a sorry state, with one end of the roof slowly falling down due to the collapse of the wall furthest from the platform.
Company. It is likely that this takeover was prompted by the North Pembrokeshire & Fishguard Railway's plans for a harbour at Goodwick to attract Irish traffic (the GWR had a major such port at Neyland
) and/or their ambitious plan to link this new harbour to Carmarthen with their own line to break the GWR's monopoly of rail lines into west Wales. Goodwick station finally opened on 1 August 1899 under GWR ownership. The station was called Goodwick until 1 May 1904 when it was renamed Fishguard and Goodwick. It was a terminus until the GWR opened their extension to Fishguard Harbour in 1906 and moved their Irish ferry operation there from Neyland.
The station was closed on 6 April 1964 by British Railways when local trains between Fishguard and Clarbeston Road were withdrawn. After closure to normal passenger trains the station remained in use for workmen's trains to the RNAD depot at Trecwn, until these services were withdrawn on 1 August 1964. From 18 June 1965 the station became the terminus of a motorail service from London, the end loading dock behind the former main (up side) platform being used for unloading the cars. These motorail, car-carrying services kept the station in use each Summer season until the service ended on 19 September 1980 (or 16 September 1982 which also suggests the motorail resulted in the refurbishment of the station building), at the end of the season, and were not re-started the following Summer. The station had a final use during June 1982 when the railway lines at Fishguard Harbour were moved and re-laid.
Early photographs show the station building to be shorter than it is today. Perhaps the extension was carried out along with the suggested refurbishment for motorail traffic.
. In March 2011 the Welsh Assembly Government announced three years of funding for extra local trains to Fishguard Harbour, starting in September 2011 . The council have announced that they plan to demolish the station building. Since it is within the Goodwick Conservation Area this would be in direct violation of their own policy 80 (under the environment section of the Joint Unitary Development Plan For Pembrokeshire (JUDP)).
Goodwick
Goodwick is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, immediately west of its twin town of Fishguard. Goodwick was a small fishing village in the parish of Llanwnda, but in 1887 work commenced on a railway connection and harbour, and the village grew rapidly to service this...
, Pembrokeshire. It is just over half a mile away from the larger Fishguard Harbour station
Fishguard Harbour railway station
Fishguard Harbour railway station serves the port of Fishguard Harbour, Wales. It is the terminus of one of the branches of the West Wales Line from Swansea.-Ownership:...
but is much better situated for local rail travellers, in particular for providing bus connections. Despite this the station is currently (July 2011) closed. This has been the situation for many years and is mainly due to the rail service on the line (currently 2 trains per day connecting with Stena Line ferries, one of which is in the dead of night) being almost useless to local passengers. The station building is in a sorry state, with one end of the roof slowly falling down due to the collapse of the wall furthest from the platform.
History
Goodwick railway station was the planned terminus of the Rosebush & Fishguard railway. Complications meant that, despite work having begun at Rosebush in 1878 the line still wasn't completed by 1898 when the company (by now called the Pembrokeshire & Fishguard Railway) was purchased by the Great Western RailwayGreat Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
Company. It is likely that this takeover was prompted by the North Pembrokeshire & Fishguard Railway's plans for a harbour at Goodwick to attract Irish traffic (the GWR had a major such port at Neyland
Neyland railway station
Neyland railway station was on the north bank of the Milford Haven Waterway in Pembrokeshire, Wales.-History:The Great Western Railway wished to link their system to Ireland. To do this, they supported the South Wales Railway , which would run from to a port in west Wales; steamships would then...
) and/or their ambitious plan to link this new harbour to Carmarthen with their own line to break the GWR's monopoly of rail lines into west Wales. Goodwick station finally opened on 1 August 1899 under GWR ownership. The station was called Goodwick until 1 May 1904 when it was renamed Fishguard and Goodwick. It was a terminus until the GWR opened their extension to Fishguard Harbour in 1906 and moved their Irish ferry operation there from Neyland.
The station was closed on 6 April 1964 by British Railways when local trains between Fishguard and Clarbeston Road were withdrawn. After closure to normal passenger trains the station remained in use for workmen's trains to the RNAD depot at Trecwn, until these services were withdrawn on 1 August 1964. From 18 June 1965 the station became the terminus of a motorail service from London, the end loading dock behind the former main (up side) platform being used for unloading the cars. These motorail, car-carrying services kept the station in use each Summer season until the service ended on 19 September 1980 (or 16 September 1982 which also suggests the motorail resulted in the refurbishment of the station building), at the end of the season, and were not re-started the following Summer. The station had a final use during June 1982 when the railway lines at Fishguard Harbour were moved and re-laid.
Early photographs show the station building to be shorter than it is today. Perhaps the extension was carried out along with the suggested refurbishment for motorail traffic.
Possible Reopening
The reopening of the station as a rail/bus interchange has been considered by Pembrokeshire County Council as Fishguard & Goodwick Station is more convenient for local rail travellers than Fishguard HarbourFishguard Harbour railway station
Fishguard Harbour railway station serves the port of Fishguard Harbour, Wales. It is the terminus of one of the branches of the West Wales Line from Swansea.-Ownership:...
. In March 2011 the Welsh Assembly Government announced three years of funding for extra local trains to Fishguard Harbour, starting in September 2011 . The council have announced that they plan to demolish the station building. Since it is within the Goodwick Conservation Area this would be in direct violation of their own policy 80 (under the environment section of the Joint Unitary Development Plan For Pembrokeshire (JUDP)).