Porthmadog Harbour railway station

Porthmadog Harbour
Porthmadog Harbour railway station in 2011. The point work of the WHR's Cross Town Rail Link (CTRL) can be seen in the foreground, with the FR's 0-4-0 locomotive Palmerston waiting in the then single platform station to pilot a WHR train back into the platform from the Cob
Location
Place	Porthmadog
Area	Gwynedd
Coordinates	52°55′26″N 4°07′37″W / 52.9239°N 4.1270°W / 52.9239; -4.1270Coordinates: 52°55′26″N 4°07′37″W / 52.9239°N 4.1270°W / 52.9239; -4.1270
Grid reference	SH571384
Operations
Managed by	Ffestiniog Railway
Owned by	Festiniog Railway Company
Platforms	2
History
6 January 1865	Station opened
1923	Welsh Highland Railway services commence
1936	Welsh Highland Railway services cease
15 September 1939	Closed for passengers
23 July 1955	Reopened for passengers
19 February 2011	Reopened to Welsh Highland Railway services
Stations on heritage railways in the United Kingdom
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Porthmadog Harbour railway station in Porthmadog, North Wales, is the passenger terminus of two narrow gauge railways: the Ffestiniog Railway, which was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea; and the Welsh Highland Railway, incorporated in 1923, which ran to Dinas, after the rebuilding 1997-2011 the other terminus is at Caernarfon, in sight of the Castle.

The station is built at the western end of the Cob, the great embankment across the Traeth Mawr, on a peninsula from Ynys Madoc constructed in 1842 to form a slate wharf and a harbour wall. It was opened for passenger service on 6 January 1865. Welsh Highland Railway trains served the station from 1923, with a short period when all passenger traffic was diverted to Portmadog New station near the crossing with the Cambrian railway, the building long since demolished. The ill-funded WHR went bankrupt in 1936. Harbour station was closed to passengers on 15 September 1939, although slate trains continued operating through the Second World War until 1946. The buildings continued to be in use as the principal offices of the Festiniog Railway Company and the home of Manager (Mr Robert Evans) including throughout the years of almost total closure from 1 August 1946 to 24 September 1954. The station reopened for passengers on 23 July 1955.

Since 2011, following completion of the Cross Town Rail Link (CTRL), the station is also the terminus of the Welsh Highland Railway, which is owned by the Festiniog Railway Company. This line runs trains, via the cross town link through Porthmadog, to Beddgelert, Rhyd Ddu, Waunfawr, Dinas and Caernarfon. The WHR was closed to all traffic in 1936 and the track lifted during the War, but has been entirely rebuilt and even extended. Starting from Caernarfon in 1997, the final section (from Pont Croesor) was physically connected in 2009 with regular passenger services resuming in 2011.