Now and Then X: Bangor Station

Bangor Station – Now and Then

Date

14 February 2015

Location

Bangor

Information

Parliamentary assent was given in 1844 for the construction of the Chester and Holyhead Railway with Robert Stephenson as Engineer and it opened in stages between 1848 and 1850. Designed by architect Francis Thompson, the station in Bangor opened in 1848. The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) took over the line in 1859 and enlarged the station in 1884. Further alterations were made between 1923 and 1927 after the line became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). The original station building became isolated from the approach road and so a new building for the main entrance and booking hall was built at that time. The station, which had a large goods yard, was enlarged as branch lines opened. It was, however, reduced in size again as local services were withdrawn in the 1960s and 70s. The station is currently managed by Arriva Trains Wales and with an annual passenger usage of around 680,000 is the busiest on the North Wales Coast line.

Further Reading

Railway Institute, Bangor;
Bangor Station (Disused Stations)

Bangor station c 1922. An additional two tracks were later lain to the right of the main building, which consequently stood on an island connected to the new booking hall by a footbridge. These tracks were subsequently lifted as local services were withdrawn and the area they had occupied was re-purposed for car parking.

Bangor Station is located between two hills negotiated via tunnels: the 814m Bangor Tunnel to the east and the 592m Belmont Tunnel to the west.

The red cast-iron telephone kiosk visible in the middle of Platform 1 is a Grade II listed structure and is an example of architect Giles Gilbert Scott's iconic 'K6' call-box design, which went into production in 1936.

Roof detail, original 1848 main building.

The two-storey, brick built main station building was constructed in Italianate style and received a Grade II listing in 1988.

Bangor Station

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14 thoughts on “Now and Then X: Bangor Station”

Really nice combination – old and new! 🙂 K

Graham Stephen says:

February 22, 2015 at 10:48 am

Thanks, Kamila!

Reply

Very interesting, Graham. Despite having Anderson and Fox’s mighty work on the stations of the C&H, I found much in your photographs that piqued my curiosity- you give just the right nuggets of information to start the grey matter going 🙂 I hadn’t noticed the water tank under/near the palladian-ish window in the first shot at the end nearest the camera. Obviously not required now, but at least the shell of the loco depot survives nearby. I wish they would paint the fascia boards, won’t be long before they start to rot. Thanks for a fascinating post.

Graham Stephen says:

February 22, 2015 at 3:47 pm

Thanks, Iain. I’m glad you found something of interest here! It must have been a very busy little transport hub in its heyday. I can’t say I’m overly struck by its current cream-and-cyan branding in line with Arriva’s corporate identity 😉

Reply