Carmarthen railway station

Carmarthen railway station is situated south of the River Towy on the edge of the town of Carmarthen, Wales. It is located on the West Wales Line and is managed by Arriva Trains Wales, who operate most of the passenger trains serving it. First Great Western also operates a limited service to London Paddington from here (usually one train each way daily, with additional services on Sundays).

Services
To the east, Arriva Trains Wales operate services to Swansea, Cardiff Central, Manchester Piccadilly and Holyhead. First Great Western currently operate one service to and from Carmarthen to London Paddington. The majority of local train services west of Carmarthen are timed to connect with the London Paddington services at either Swansea or Cardiff Central.

To the west, Arriva Trains Wales operate services to Pembroke Dock, Milford Haven and Fishguard Harbour. Carmarthen is the eastern terminus for a few of these services.

The British Transport Police maintain a presence at Carmarthen.

Rail & sea corridor to Ireland
Some of the Arriva Trains Wales boat trains to and from Fishguard Harbour serve the station. These connect with the Stena Line ferry to Rosslare Europort in Ireland with a daily morning and evening service in both directions. This route has been in existence since 1906.

South Wales Railway
The present station is the third to serve the town and dates from 1902, although the South Wales Railway's main line from Swansea to Neyland reached it some fifty years earlier. This original station was built with westward expansion in mind (being located at the base of the triangular junction half a mile south of the present station) and was poorly sited for the town itself.

Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway
A second station (Carmarthen Town) was opened by the Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway in 1860 on its route northwards towards Conwil and Pencader which was much better sited for the town (on the opposite side of the river) and this remained in use until its replacement by the current station shortly after the turn of the century. The Town station did however remain in use for goods traffic thereafter beyond the closure of the final portion of the line Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway in September 1973, until the goods yard closed in the early 1980s and the single track girder bridge over the River Tywi was removed during 1983.

The Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway, in spite of its name, never actually reached Cardigan, as it was constructed only as far as Newcastle Emlyn (which was reached only in 1895). Cardigan was eventually served instead by the winding Whitland and Cardigan Branch Line from Whitland, the primary junction in Pembrokeshire. The C&CR did however link up with the ill-fated Manchester and Milford Railway at Pencader, putting the town on a through route to Aberystwyth by 1867.

Other railways
Another outlet to the north came courtesy of the Llanelly Railway's branch from Llandeilo, which reached Abergwili Junction in 1864 and whose trains reached the Town station by means of running powers following its takeover by the LNWR in 1873. The final link in the chain of lines to the north was added in 1911, when a branch line from Lampeter to Aberaeron was opened by the Lampeter, Aberayron and New Quay Light Railway. This was worked by the Great Western Railway from the outset, as the company had by this time absorbed the other lines mentioned (apart from the Llandeilo branch, which remained in LNWR hands until the 1923 Grouping).

Closures
Today, none of the lines to the north survive, the first round of closures having begun as early as May 1951 when the Aberaeron line lost its passenger trains. The Newcastle Emlyn line followed suit in September 1952, whilst the Llandeilo branch went in September 1963 and the 'main line' to Aberystwyth in February 1965, although milk trains continued to operate as far as Pont Llanio (near Tregaron) on the Aberystwyth main line until 1970 and to Newcastle Emlyn and to Felinfach on the Aberaeron branch until September 1973. This left only the original South Wales Railway main line to serve the station and left it as a terminus at the end of short spur from the main line at which all trains have to reverse before continuing their journeys. This was not so much of a problem with DMUs but led to the need for a run-round of locomotive-hauled trains which were regularly used until the mid-1980s.

Historically, the line to Aberystwyth and Llandeilo continued beyond the station across the river past the site of the goods yard (now a builders yard) and then has been buried under the Carmarthen eastern by-pass dual carriageway as far as the former Abergwili Junction. The Aberystwyth line then turned north out to Bronwydd Arms. From Abergwili Junction northwards, the railway trackbed resumes and is owned by the Gwili Railway which runs preserved trains up the Aberystwyth line as far as Danycoed near to Cynwyl Elfed.