Llandudno railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Llandudno
code = LLD


caption = Virgin Voyager train to London at platform 2
manager = Arriva Trains Wales
locale = Llandudno
borough = Conwy
start = October 1858
platforms = 3
usage0405 = 0.235
usage0506 = 0.237
usage0607 = 0.239

Llandudno railway station serves the town of Llandudno and is the terminus of a branch line from Llandudno Junction on the Crewe to Holyhead North Wales Coast Line. It is managed by Arriva Trains Wales.

There are frequent through services to Manchester Piccadilly via Colwyn Bay, Rhyl, Prestatyn, Flint, Chester and Warrington (hourly Mon-Sat, two-hourly on Sundays). There is a direct service (Mondays to Fridays) to London Euston operated by Virgin Trains. There are also local services and through services via the Conwy Valley Line to Betws-y-Coed and Blaenau Ffestiniog (four per day Mon-Sat, two on Sundays between May & early September).

The first station and the branch line was built by the St. George's Harbour and Railway Company and opened on 1 October 1858. The trains at first ran to and from Conwy station until the completion of Llandudno Junction station. The line was soon absorbed by the London and North Western Railway which became the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1922. Vaughan Street in Llandudno was also laid out in 1858 as the station approach road.

The present Llandudno station buildings and frontage were erected in 1892 and the station still has the Victorian carriage road between the two principal platforms. Platforms 4 & 5 have been disused since 1978 and the glass roof over all the platforms was removed in 1990. Half of the station frontage is now disused and in a poor state of repair and presents a dismal entrance to this seaside town, although the part in use was repainted recently. In recent years, plans were unveiled for the transformation of the station into a Transport Interchange, which would have involved the demolition of the disused part of the station and the introduction of new passenger facilities - as of late 2007, these plans are still on hold pending funding issues.

External links

* [http://www.greatorme.org.uk/Arrivatrains.html Llandudno and North Wales Train Services 1947 and 2003]
* [http://www.greatorme.org.uk/VirginTrains.html Virgin Trains restore through London to Llandudno Service]

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