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. The area is also now served (since it reopened on 14 May 2012) by Fishguard and Goodwick railway station. History. The Great Western Railway took over the North Pembrokeshire and Fishguard Railway by agreement of 12 February 1898. Its intent was to turn Fishguard into a purpose-built ocean liner port because it wanted to take trans-Atlantic passenger traffic away from Plymouth and Southampton. In preparation of this , the GWR opened its first station, Fishguard & Goodwick railway station, in 1899 while work on the new port began with the construction of Fishguard Harbour's East breakwater. A new line would connect the proposed liner terminal on the East Breakwater to the West Wales line. The new route, which would have bypassed the steeper gradients and curves on this part of the original line, would have included a deep cutting, embankments and two tunnels. However, the project to build a breakwater and an ocean-going terminal was abandoned after it became clear silting (which could not be prevented by  dredging) would stop large ocean-going ships from using the port. The East Breakwater was left unfinished. Two short sections of the planned railway to the new port terminal were completed before the project was ended. The GWR created a new port by building the North Breakwater by quarrying stone from the headland at Goodwick. The quarried-out area became the new quay and terminus for the West Wales line. On 30 August 1906, Fishguard harbour station was officially opened when the Waterford and Cork ferry services were transferred from to Fishguard Harbour. Three years later, the first Cunard liner  to call at Fishguard was the on 30 August 1909. However, passengers had to be transferred ashore and the waiting London train by tender due to the shallowness of the harbour. Current facilities. The station is not owned by Network Rail but by Stena Line. A large part of the station is contained within the port building where there is seating and toilets. However, there are no railway ticket machines and the station is staffed only by Stena Line personnel, no rail staff are employed there. This means there is no rail ticket office and passengers travelling from Fishguard by  train must purchase their tickets in advance by post, at a different station, or on board their train. The majority of passengers using the station are in possession of SailRail tickets issued at Rosslare Europort or another station in Ireland. The station has step-free access throughout and the station's owners, Stena Line, permit smoking on the platform. The station also has both long and short stay parking. The minimum connection time from Fishguard Harbour is seven minutes, and when bus replacement services are operating, the buses leave from the car park adjacent to the level crossing. After the  ban on smoking in public became law in Wales in April 2007, the station became the only one in the UK where it was still permitted. Stena Line allowed passengers to continue to smoke on the platform because it was deemed too dangerous for them smoke at the nearest point where it was technically permissible: a level crossing over a busy road. Smoking is banned at all stations operated by Network Rail. Rail services. Since the station is located in the harbour, its primary purpose has always been providing links with sea going transport. As such, there have always been  daily services to and from Fishguard Harbour which coincide with the ferry services to Rosslare in Ireland. Historic services. May 2003 to September 2003. In 2003 the remaining First Great Western Fishguard services were withdrawn when the franchise was taken over by Wales & Borders. This ended almost a century of direct services to or from London Paddington. However, through services to and from other stations were added to the timetable. From September 2003 to September 2011. Arriva Trains Wales took over from Wales & Borders in December 2003 From September 2011 to May 2017. All services were operated by Arriva Trains  Wales. The level of service was greatly enhanced from 12 September 2011 when five extra services per day in each direction commenced running to and from Fishguard Harbour Mondays to Saturdays. The five extra services are as follows: These are provided on a trial basis until September 2014 and are in addition to the two daily 'boat-trains', one at lunch time and one in the dead of night, which provide the traditional ferry connections. Inbound. The extra services are the first regular timetabled services to Fishguard Harbour that have not been provided solely for connection with ferries since local  services were withdrawn in 1964. Since the additional services only run Monday to Saturday, only the two trains connecting with ferry services serve the station on a Sunday. The decision to introduce additional trains has been credited to two teenagers from Moylegrove who collected a 1,440 signature petition in support of the move. A consultation was held in May/June 2011 on the planned services, but did not result in much adjustment to the times. The additional trains for Fishguard initiative has guaranteed funding until 2014, during which a review will be carried out to identify demand and passenger numbers  and future funding. The extra services, with trains to and from Cardiff and Clarbeston Road, are not quite what was expected when the Welsh Assembly Government announced it would be funding up to £1.4m annually to provide extra services between and Fishguard. 2017. The ferry sailing schedule was significantly revised in May 2017 resulting in changes to the train times. As a result, there are no longer trains during the night and the 01.50 departure is discontinued. From May 2018 it was proposed to extend the 19.30 from Manchester to Carmarthen to Fishguard Harbour, returning at 02.37 to  Carmarthen, with an equivalent bus replacement in the early hours of Sunday. 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, services on the Fishguard branch have been reduced. As of August 2021, there are two daily departures from Mondays to Saturdays - one at midday, and one in the late evening. Both services run to Carmarthen, with the midday service continuing to Cardiff Central. On Sundays, there is an increased service of three trains per day. The additional mid-afternoon service runs to Swansea.