Roman Bridge railway station () is a railway station in the Lledr Valley, Wales, on the Conwy Valley Line. It is from Llandudno Junction, and is between Dolwyddelan and Blaenau Ffestiniog. The station and the services calling at the station are operated by Transport for Wales Rail.
It is named after a nearby ancient bridge over the River Lledr, that carries a minor highway from the A470 road to scattered hill farms at Blaenau Dolwyddelan.
History The station was opened on 22 July 1879 when the London and North Western Railway opened an extension of the Conwy Valley line from to . Early Baedeker guide books to Great Britain state that there is no explanation for the name, though the Roman road Sarn Helen is known to have passed down the valley on its way from Canovium (in the Conwy Valley) to Tomen y Mur, at Trawsfynydd making a crossing at this point feasible.
The station had a goods yard, which in 1939 received grain, flour, manure and other items. However, the yard was removed in the 1950s.
The station was host to two LMS caravans from 1935 to 1939, and a camping coach was also positioned here by the London Midland Region from 1954 to 1956.
The station building still stands and is well maintained as a residence - it was offered for sale in 2013 for £450,000 as a private home (with 10 acres of land), after previous use as a holiday cottage."Yours for £450,000 - one of Wales' most remote railway stations" Cresci, Elena Wales Online article 27 April 2013; Retrieved 31 May 2017
The station signs erroneously give the Welsh name as Pont Rufenig.
Facilities The unstaffed station has digital CIS screens. There is a waiting shelter, pay phone and timetable poster board for train running information provision. As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.
Passenger volume For the year April 2023 to March 2024, it was the least used station in Wales, with 680 entries and exits. +Passenger volume at Roman Bridge2004–052005–062006–072007–082008–092009–102010–112011–122012–132013–142014–152015–162016–172017–182018–192019–202020–212021–222022–232023–242024–25Entries and exits2303103073773886106367808427647465447449421,09472064472450680612 The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.
Services Five southbound and six northbound trains call on request Mondays to Saturdays (approximately every three hours), with three trains each way on Sundays between May and early September.eNRT May 2026 Edition, Table 078 (Network Rail)
Services were temporarily suspended in February 2020 and replaced by road transport due to flooding of the line north of Llanrwst caused by Storm Ciara. Following completion of the work to repair the storm damage, services at the station were reinstated on 28 September 2020.
References
Bibliography
External links
Conwy Valley Railway