Place Llanelli Station code LLE DfT category E Number of platforms 2 | Grid reference SS506994 Managed by Arriva Trains Wales 2011/12 0.403 million | |
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Address Llanelli SA15 2RN, United Kingdom Similar Pontarddulais railway station, Briton Ferry railway station, Pembrey and Burry Port railw, Kidwelly railway station, Baglan railway station | ||
Llanelli railway station
Llanelli railway station is the railway station serving the town of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is located on the West Wales Line and the Heart of Wales Line. The station, and the majority of trains calling at it, are operated by Arriva Trains Wales. It is located between two Level Crossings (known as East and West) that were previously upgraded in the 1970s. More recently Network Rail has carried out a further upgrade which saw the control of these Level Crossings pass to Port Talbot Panel Signal Box.
Contents
Call for improvements at llanelli railway station
Services
Arriva Trains Wales operate an approximately hourly service in each direction along the West Wales Line, from Manchester Piccadilly and Cardiff Central via Swansea to Carmarthen, with two-hourly extensions to Milford Haven. There is a separate (roughly two-hourly service) between Swansea and Pembroke Dock via Tenby that calls, along with the twice-daily service to and from Fishguard Harbour that runs to connect with the ferry to/from Rosslare.
The daily Great Western Railway service between Carmarthen and London Paddington also calls here (three each way on Sundays). Great Western Railway also operate a summer Saturday service between London and Pembroke Dock.
There are four weekday trains a day in each direction on the Heart of Wales Line to Shrewsbury, plus a fifth a.m peak train to/from as Llandovery (Saturdays excepted). As the line from Swansea also enters Llanelli from the east, these trains must reverse direction here to continue their journeys. Two trains each way operate on the line on Sundays.
Rail & sea corridor to Ireland
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. Two other services to & from there also call since the branch service was improved in 2011. This route has been in existence since 1906.
History
Llanelli rail station was the scene for the Llanelli Riots of 1911. The Llanelli Riots took place on 19 August 1911. Their immediate cause was the very first Railway Strike which lasted only two days. The strike started on Thursday evening, and by Saturday evening two young men had been shot dead by the military. One man was killed when a railway truck exploded and, on the following day, three more people died from their injuries. The story of the Riots is set in a period of great industrial unrest, and involves prominent figures on the international scene such as Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, King George V, and Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany.