When’s the next train at Fishguard and Goodwick? That’s the question answered at a glance by the new bookmark timetable published by Seaways Bookshop and Fishguard Trains.

Arriva’s West Wales timetable takes 43 pages to give you the same information about every train, both directions, seven days a week through our new station.

To compress the vital information into just one side of a bookmark, we’ve created a new kind of timetable. It’s simple once you’re used to it. Here’s how it works.

TRAIN TIMES AT FISHGUARD and GOODWICK

That’s what it says on top of  the bookmark, and those are the times that it gives you. Think of it as the train indicator on the station platform. That shows the next three trains due in either direction. The bookmark timetable shows all fourteen trains. It does NOT show times at Fishguard Harbour, or the times trains leave or arrive at their destinations. This is a timetable to use for catching or meeting a train at Fishguard and Goodwick, and for planning your next trip to the station.

SEVEN DAYS A WEEK

No need to thumb through endless pages to find the right day of the week. BLACK time are Monday-Friday. RED times are Saturday. BLUE times are Sunday.

DIRECT TRAIN OR CONNECTING TRAIN?

All direct destination and origin stations are shown in CAPITALS. Main destinations and origins that need a change are shown in Mixed Case.

COMING OR GOING?

Column One shows train times. Column Two shows the direct and connecting origins of each train in GREY. Column Three shows the destinations of each train in BLACK.

morning train

A SIMPLE EXAMPLE

This shows that the 9:59 started from Fishguard Harbour, and goes through to Carmarthen. There you can change to all main destinations – Swansea, Cardiff, London and Manchester. On Saturdays the train leaves Fishguard and Goodwick three minutes earlier at 9:56. There is no train on Sundays.

evening train

STILL SIMPLE

The 20:23 arrives with connections from Manchester, London, Cardiff, Swansea and Carmarthen. No through origin is shown. As it says at the foot of the bookmark, if no direct origin/destination shown, change Clarbeston Rd or Carmarthen. In this case, you must change at Clarbeston Road. The 20:23 departs for Fishguard Harbour – no ferry for this train. On Saturdays this train runs later, at 20:48. There’s no Sunday train.

lunchtime train

NOT SO SIMPLE

The 13:17 is a through train arriving from Cardiff, where you could have changed from a train from Manchester or London. It departs for Fishguard Harbour, where you can connect by ferry and train to Rosslare, Wexford, Waterford and Dublin. Note that the 13:17 does not offer either a through or a connecting service from Swansea or Carmarthen. On Saturdays the train runs earlier at 13:07 and on Sundays an hour later at 14:07.

AND FINALLY …

How do you get copies of the bookmark timetable? From Seaways Bookshop in the centre of Fishguard. A lovely 20 minute walk along Goodwick beach and up into Fishguard town.  Or five minutes by 41o from the bus stop at the station entrance. Enjoy the trip and make sure you have time for browsing the bookshelves.

alight here

station garden

Less than a week before Fishguard and Goodwick station re-opened, on Friday 11th May, Aberayron Signalbox was moved from Fishguard to the Gwili Railway. How did it ever come to Fishguard, and how come it’s gone again?

five teas please

The signalbox was commissioned with the opening of the Lampeter, Aberayron & New Quay Light Railway in 1911 to control access to the small goods yard and engine shed at Aberayron. The station closed to passengers in 1951, and to goods in 1964 when the Aberayron branch was cut back to the milk factory at Felin-fach.

on track

The station buildings remained in situ following complete site closure in 1965; however, photographic evidence taken in 1967 shows that the signal box had been removed.  It was thought that the signal box had been demolished during the removal of the disused section of the branch but fortunately it had been purchased by the late Mr. William ‘Bill’ Fowler of Aberaeron. He dismantled it into ‘flat-pack’ form and stored at his mother’s house until he moved to Fishguard to take up a teaching post. Then wanting to “take a piece of Aberaeron with him”, he removed the box from storage and loaded it onto a Fishguard Fruit flatbed lorry, and headed south.

heave

Mr. Fowler and a group of friends from the Fishguard and Goodwick Rugby team, family and neighbours reconstructed the box in his back garden. Although he wasn’t a railway enthusiast, he wanted to preserve this part of Aberaeron’s history. He looked after it until he died in 2002.

In 2011 Aberaeron celebrated the centenary of the opening of the station. Mrs Fowler approached Cymdeithas Aberaeron to see if they would be interested in returning the signalbox to the town. Unfortunately no suitable location could be found. Thomas Spain, a Gwili Railway volunteer from the Fishguard area approached Mrs Fowler with the idea of moving the signalbox to the Gwili Railway. In January 2012 all was agreed.

safely on board

So it was that on May 5th, a small group jacked the signalbox up from the garden that had been home for nearly 50 years, and moved it on a temporary railway across Mrs Fowler’s lawn, ready for the crane to lift it onto a lorry for the move to Bronwydd Arms on May 11th.

The move was complicated by the presence of low power and telephone cables, so the box was initially loaded onto a low trailer to move out onto the main road. There it was loaded onto a lorry by crane. At this moment it is on a well wagon at Bronwydd Arms, ready to be tripped to Llwyfan Cerrig for unloading, so some repair work can take place this week.

where to now?

Our eventual plan is to install it near Llwyfan Cerrig Ground Frame where it will be in the company of the booking office from Felin-fach, also at Llwyfan Cerrig.

An appeal, for funds to transport, repair and permanently install the box has so far raised £1,000 was launched (including generous donations from the Aeron Valley Railway Society and Cymdeithas Aberaeron), and Davies Crane Hire of Carmarthen agreed to provide their services at cost. We do still need to raise additional funds however, so if you’d like to send a donation, we’d be very grateful. Please make a cheque payable to “GRPS”, with ‘Aberayron Signal Box Project’ clearly marked on the back. Send it to Dave Johnson, GRPS Treasurer, 54 Church Road, Gorslas, Llanelli , Carmarthenshire, SA14 7NF.

We’d really like to thank Mrs Fowler for donating the signalbox, and to all those involved in raising funds and organising the move, especially Thomas Spain who acted as project manager.

If you are interested in finding out more, please drop me  line on rob.phillips@phonecoop.coop

Fishguard Trains says: Thrilled at your initiative in rescuing and re-using our railway heritage. Now it’s up to us to put the restored station buildings at Fishguard and Goodwick to good use.

Station on the Bay

Yesterday was memorable for many good reasons: the sun shone on the crowds gathered to welcome the first day of passenger services at Fishguard and Goodwick for 48 years. The band played, the plaque was unveiled and we greeted the many partners, official and unofficial, who made this all come true in less time than anyone dared imagine. It was a fine send-off for our new station.

Today was the first serious test. After all the celebrations, how would the service do on its first ordinary working day?

14 trains a day

Fishguard Trains took the 9:59 to Carmarthen.

The train sign on the platform displays the next three trains, and a digital speaker announces the imminent train. (Guess what Clunderwen is in Digital?)

like in Switzerland

At 9:58 and 28 seconds, the 9:59 appeared round the bend. Nice one. What a shame it couldn’t be this punctual for BBC Wales’ live cameras last night.

just the ticket

A ticket to keep in our scrapbook.  The first week for a half-century that you can buy tickets to and from Fishguard and Goodwick. (Sadly, someone in a back office has entered May 21 as the date to start selling F&G tickets, at booking offices and online. So if you can get hold of an F&G ticket dated for this week, you’ve beaten the system.)

one town, two stations

A good day’s work in Carmarthen, and it’s time to head home.

The platform indicator still comes as a surprise – we really are a town with two stations.

smiles better

The smiles say it all – people are getting off the train in Fishguard and Goodwick, and the sun’s still shining. All over Wales, Britain and the world, people are doing the same thing  this evening – another day’s work done, the shopping, the visiting and the busying. And now we’re back home again, off the train and (hopefully) time to unwind. What could be more normal?

welcome home

And here’s the best sight of all. Six cars in the station car park to meet evening travellers. We have a Park and Ride station!

Fishguard Trains was particularly pleased to see a car driven by a good neighbour who only a year ago doubted that anyone would use the new services.

Welcome on board.

This is what change looks like.

And from today, May 14th 2012, we are all

part of

this change.

Welcome aboard!

a brand new timetable

Our new station opens on Monday. To celebrate – and to see exactly when trains arrive and depart from Fishguard and Goodwick – Fishguard Trains today launches a brand new timetable.

Jointly designed and published by Fishguard Trains and Seaways Bookshop, the new timetable is itself a first: On just one bookmark-sized card, you can see at a glance ALL services to and from Fishguard and Goodwick across 24 hours and all seven days of the week.

when's the next train?

The timetable shows major origin and destination stations, and timetable variations on Saturday and Sunday.

Mark your place in the book you’re reading (and taking on the train) …

Fold it in half to the size of your Pembrokeshire Railcard …

Pin it on your kitchen noticeboard …

Slip it under your mouse mat …

However you use it, you will never need to wonder when the next train leaves Fishguard and Goodwick. They’re all here.

The new timetable is available – free of charge – at Seaways Bookshop in the centre of Fishguard – and at other outlets in future.

Call into Seaways soon to make sure of getting your copy!

spot the ghost

“Ah, two trains on the single track at the same time – that can’t be right.” – Arriva’s comment when Fishguard Trains pointed out a new timetable problem.

Page 38 of Arriva’s new West Wales Timetable (from May 14th) shows a Saturday train leaving Cardiff at 15:14, into Fishguard Harbour at 18:34. Then on page 39 another train leaves Cardiff at 16:04, into Fishguard Harbour at 18:51. A seventeen minute service interval is just not possible on Fishguard’s single-track branch, even if it was intended.

What has happened is that the current 15:14 service to Fishguard from Cardiff has been retimed to leave at 16:04 – an improvement all round, as it is faster and better timed – but while the new service is shown correctly, the service it replaces has not been removed. Today Arriva confirmed to Fishguard Trains that the error (which just affects Saturday times) will be corrected on line, but – and here’s the problem – it is too late for the printed timetables to be corrected.

So anyone checking Arriva’s printed West Wales Timetable for the afternoon departure from Cardiff and Swansea to Fishguard is going to be misled, until a new edition in September. We can’t help being disappointed. Our new service and new station need all the support they can get. An official timetable showing times for a train that doesn’t exist is not helpful.

In the circumstances, perhaps it would be unkind to point out another error in the same timetable: Arriva misspells our new station Abergwuan ac Wdig.

You are here

In just thirteen days, Wales will have a new first: a reopened station on a rural railway line.

So far all the successful station openings have been in urban Wales – Ebbw Vale, Rhoose, Maesteg, Pyle. There has been nothing like the launch of a complete new service, and now a complete new station on a heritage site, all to serve a rural and coastal area, and one of the smallest towns in Wales.

switched on in 13 days

Fishguard Trains has just come from a meeting with stakeholders where the talk could not have been more enthusiastic and confident. As you’d expect, all attention is on the reopened station. It will remove a huge barrier to use of the new service, and bring local and long-distance rail services to the heart of the twin towns, and an ideal access point for  Pembrokeshire’s world-famous Coast Path.

knotting

So with thirteen days to go, here is a sneak preview of final work to prepare our new station.

The timber-clad building receives attention before being painted – in cream, we’re told. We’ll continue to debate whether the restored building does justice to its historic predecessor, but the fact is to have these buildings at all is a big asset – now we should put heads together to make it a valuable destination in its own right, as is done at other rural stations.

job for a painter

This is the side of the station buildings facing the car park.

What would you like to find inside in future?

Tourist information?

Tea and buns?

Cycle hire?

Local craft stalls?

Railway heritage display?

Walkers’ gear for sale?

final fix

The time for ideas is now.

Along the platform stands the ‘bus shelter’.

At least this one doesn’t prevent you getting on the train, the way the new bus shelter on the opposite side of Station Hill blocks entrance to the bus. We hear that plans are in hand to move that shelter where it belongs.

park and ride

This is one of the most welcome features of Fishguard and Goodwick: a station that is accessible for drivers, for Coast Path ramblers, for pedestrians from Goodwick and Fishguard, for bus users, and for disabled travellers.

coming and going

And here’s what must be the most under-stated sign in Fishguard. If you’re heading to Fishguard Harbour, your real destination is going to be Wexford, Waterford, Dublin. If you’re heading via Clarbeston Road, you’ll be travelling to Swansea, Cardiff, Manchester, London.

So in thirteen days, just pick your destination, turn up, and travel!

timbered up

The station works are nearing completion, and we’re starting to see the newly-timbered face of Fishguard and Goodwick Station. Here’s the side that faces you as you enter the car park.

new face to the track

And here’s the view from the bridge.

As Rhydgaled has noted, a less than welcome change is railings dividing the station building from the platform. An essential feature, or just to mark the boundary of Network Rail and Pembrokeshire County Council land?

five years ago

Here for comparison are the original buildings, seen in 2007.

Yes, there are similarities and there are differences. For our money, the saddest loss is the chimney stack, which gave character and proportion to the original station house.

But perhaps that would have got in the way of the solar panels that Pembrokeshire’s going to mount on the new roof.

Aren’t they?

Croeso!

But to close on a positive note, here is a sight to welcome all park-and-ride drivers from May 14th: Free parking. Welcome!

what a difference a year makes

One year old, and going strong. Fishguard Trains launched in April 2011, just days after Ieuan Wyn Jones’ astonishing volte face, only months after he dismissed the case for a proper rail service to Fishguard as “premature”. It could restore your faith in democracy to see how an election focusses politicians’ minds.

Once the media got over its surprise at the Minister’s U-turn, it ran the comedy tale of a rail service with no station. Fishguard, it seemed, was too far west for anything to work properly here.

But now, a year on, how things have changed. The trains are running (even National Rail Enquiries has finally noticed Fishguard and Goodwick), and clearly we use the services in growing numbers. You are as likely to bump into your neighbours on the train as in the Town Hall – and all without the benefit of a new station – yet. That is the second astonishing development in the past year: a rebuilt station, restored in style, with facilities for drivers, cyclists, disabled travellers and bus users. It will take a brave Minister in Cardiff Bay in two years time to pull the plug on all this.

Fishguard Trains has criticised the mistakes, shortcomings and missed opportunities. But we also praise the way stakeholders have grasped this opportunity, maybe not at the speed of Workington North, but faster than anyone here dared believe. We’re well impressed.

Meanwhile, Fishguard Trains has delivered what we set out to do: “We’ll support use of the new service, report its news, good and bad, give everyone a voice in its development” – That’s what we wrote on day one. Since then the stats show we’ve published 85 posts, you’ve contributed 463 comments, and the site has received 56,000 hits.

And now, on to year two – and this time, with a new station for all those trains. See you on board.