Aberystwyth station former layout

Looking at some photos on flickr from the 1960s and 1970s of Aberystwyth station I was wondering where the current ticket office buildings come from (on the current platform - not the Wetherspoons building) - they look like period buildings but don't seem to have been there when Aberystwyth had many more platforms.

There seem to have been 5 platforms (or 6?); I can't see platform numbers on the photos but the south 2 are for Carmarthen trains (lets call these 1 & 2) - when this line was closed down the VoR took them over and now have a shed there. The middle 2 are the existing platforms (calling these 3 & 4) so 3 is the current (only) platform and photos only show a canopy on it in the 1960s - no buildings. Then there was another platform on the north side (calling this 5), was there a platform 6?

The canopies seem to have been partly removed by the 1970s and there seems to be a wall separating 4 & 5 along the canopy length - presumably 5 had become goods only?

This might help.


looks like 1 for the south 2 and 3 for the north

There is a good summary here:
https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/34676/
with plenty of interior pictures.

It doesn't quite answer your question, but it's clear that the buffer-stop end of P4 had a wall supporting the original canopy (?overall roof at one time?) - P5 must have continued outside it. The outer-end canopies on 2/3 and 4/5 are clearly standard GWR add-ons, presumably when the new station building was added.

P5 didn't exist or was out of use by my first visit in 1970.

The new arrangement seems to have come into force for summer 1968 season. From 1925 or earlier there had been Platforms 1 to 5, with one at the north and 4 and 5 being the Carmarthen bays. The Carmarthen line closed in February 1965, but it looks as though the bays remained as sidings until late 1967. Thereafter the Carmarthen platforms were taken over by the Vale of Rheidol, but presumably this did not come into effect until the VoR was diverted to run along the back of the shed, rather than in a loop past the river, in May 1965.

By 1979 only the former 3 and 1 (I am not sure of their numbers at the time), but ‘1’ was out of use by 1990: it quite possibly went when the box closed in 1982.

However, I have found a photo from 1985 in which 1 can be found on the old number 3.

Source: Cooke’s Diagrams, Section 60 (2018).

The current buildings with the ticket office pre-date the GWR rebuilding.

Platform 1 was used for the GWR 150 train so was still accessible in 1985

stuu said:

The current buildings with the ticket office pre-date the GWR rebuilding.

Platform 1 was used for the GWR 150 train so was still accessible in 1985

Click to expand...

To avoid confusion, I was going by the SRS diagram which has 1 on the SW side (where the VoR later went).

30907 said:

There is a good summary here:
https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/34676/
with plenty of interior pictures.

Click to expand...

Some interesting interior shots. Im intrigued as to the purpose of the window below the Staff Only sign in the first picture. My first thought was the pay window for issuing out wages on pay day but its too public. Any ideas? Nice to see the totems too!

30907 said:

To avoid confusion, I was going by the SRS diagram which has 1 on the SW side (where the VoR later went).

Click to expand...

Fair point, I forgot to clarify

(although I can barely read any of the text on that diagram)

Thanks for the info everyone. I think my confusion is due to the canopies originally extending much further down the platforms and the ticket office building being somewhat hidden by them. With the canopies cut back, the building can now be seen. As in this photo - https://www.flickr.com/photos/31890193@N08/14712545921/

I did find one photo on flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/fotorus/51576367144/ which shows platform numbers so 1&2 were the Carmarthen line platforms, 3 is the current platform and 5 is the northernmost as has been noted.