Place Bala Post-grouping Great Western Railway 25 September 1939 Closed Platforms in use 1 | Area Gwynedd 5 February 1934 Opened Original company Great Western Railway | |
25 March 1976 Opens as Bala (Llyn Tegid) Similar Bala Junction railway st, Glan Llyn Halt railway st, Arenig railway station, Llangower railway station, Bala (New) railway station | ||
Bala Lake Halt railway station in Gwynedd, Wales, was formerly a station on the Ruabon to Barmouth line.
Bala (Penybont) is the current terminus of the Bala Lake Railway, and has occupied the site of the former halt since 1976. The narrow-gauge Bala Lake Railway originally named the station Bala (Llyn Tegid) (Llyn Tegid is Welsh for "Lake Bala". The station was subsequently renamed to the current Bala (Penybont).
History
Opened by the Great Western Railway in 1934, it closed in 1939. In 1976 the Bala Lake Railway opened its eastern terminus on the site. The Bala Lake Railway began passenger services in 1972, and opened extensions in 1973 and 1975. Bala was reached in 1976. Writing in the railway directory "Steam '81" the general manager, G H Barnes, stated: "We aim to be in Bala near Loch Cafe in 1981, distance then 5.25 miles." This was an official prediction of the further extension of the line into Bala town centre, but the work was not carried out, and the statement was not repeated in the following year's directory, "Steam '82", leaving Bala (Llyn Tegid) as the eastern terminus of the line.