Llangurig railway station

Llangurig railway station
Site of the proposed Llangurig railway station in 1998
Location
Place	Llangurig
Area	Powys
Coordinates	52°24′26″N 3°36′24″W / 52.4072°N 3.6068°W / 52.4072; -3.6068Coordinates: 52°24′26″N 3°36′24″W / 52.4072°N 3.6068°W / 52.4072; -3.6068
Grid reference	SN907800
Operations
Original company	Manchester and Milford Railway
History
1872	Line opened
1882	Line lifted
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

Llangurig railway station was intended to serve the village and rural locale of Llangurig in the Welsh county of Powys. The station, which was on the Llangurig branch, was built and operated by the Manchester and Milford Railway (M&MR). It was to be located in a shallow rock cutting just above the village.

A railway through Llangurig arose because of the rapid and chaotic growth of the Victorian railway network in Great Britain. In 1859, the Mid-Wales Railway (MWR) had received an Act of Parliament to build and run a railway from Newtown to Brecon via Builth Wells and then on to Merthyr Tydfil, Cardiff or Neath. But just as the MWR began building north towards Llanidloes, problems arose when the Manchester and Milford Railway (M&MR) finally received parliamentary accent to connect the industrial north west of England directly with the port of Milford Haven via a series of interconnecting lines in 1860. The initial proposal had been put forward in 1846 but the scheme was not passed until it received backing from the London and North Western Railway. As a result of this timing, parliament had accidentally granted the M&MR and the MWR the same rights to build two separate lines through the same terrain.

In response the M&MR prioritised its work on completing the first section to Llandiloes by working west from Llangurig on what became known as the Llangurig branch to Penpontbren Junction. However, by 1861, surveyors and navvies from the competing companies were physically clashing south of the Llandiloes.

A further Act of Parliament was passed in 1862, giving the jointly-owned Llanidloes and Newtown Railway (L&NR) (which was managed by the Cambrian Railways since 1860) the rights to extend southwards from Llanidloes with 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of double track to Penpontbren Junction where the M&MR Llangurig branch would diverge through the Cambrian Mountains to Strata Florida and the MWR line would continue to Builth Road (serving Builth Wells). The M&MR and MWR would both pay 5% "per annum" on construction costs and maintenance. The three companies would also pay equal shares of interest and running costs for a new station at Llanidloes. However these charges would eventually prove crippling for the M&MR. The northern section from Llandiloes to Newtown would be operated through the jointly-owned L&NR; connecting the MWR and M&MR with the Oswestry and Newtown Railway. By 1864 navvies for the M&MR had laid rails and a passing loop at Llangurig. But no station buildings or other facilities were actually completed.