Llandrindod railway station

Llandrindod railway station serves the town of Llandrindod Wells in Mid Wales. It is located on the single line Heart of Wales Line 51+3/4mi southwest of and is served by four trains each way on Mondays to Saturdays, two each way on Sundays. Passenger services are operated by Arriva Trains Wales. The facility to pass northbound and southbound trains is used daily. It is also the most used station on the line itself, despite only having four trains a day in each direction (Mon-Sat); this has caused overcrowding on trains, and despite campaigns by local rail groups, the service has not been improved. A fifth a.m peak weekday service from Shrewsbury terminating at the station before heading back north to Crewe, was introduced in the May 2015 timetable change.HistoryThe station was opened in 1865 as the terminus of a branch line from Knighton by the Central Wales Railway (which was absorbed by the LNWR soon after completion). Construction of the Central Wales Extension Railway (another LNWR-backed project) southwards towards Llandovery started soon after and upon completion of this line in 1868, the town found itself on a through route between Craven Arms & Swansea. The line through the station was singled as an economy measure in the 1960s, although a passing loop was left a short distance to the north, near the town's level crossing. However the loop was relocated to the station in 1986 by British Rail as part of the signalling modernisation scheme that centralised control at Pantyffynnon (the level crossing being converted to traincrew operation at the same time whilst the signal box was closed). The redundant No.2 signal box was subsequently also relocated to the station (in 1990) after closure and restored to full working order as a museum. It is located on the southbound platform and is open to the public at certain times. The passing loop point machines were replaced on 22 August 2010 as part of a £5 million Network Rail modernisation scheme to renew the points at all five loops on the route