Notes: Ynys was situated on the Menai Bridge – Afon Wen line which opened in stages between 1852 and 1871. On 29 July 1862 the Carnarvonshire Railway (CR) was authorised to build a line between Caernarfon and Afon Wen and by October 1866 it was mostly complete and was inspected, but its opening was not approved until 2 September 1867 by which time all work was finished.

Passenger services ran between Bangor and Afon Wen with some trains continuing beyond Afon Wen. By December 1895 Ynys had three up and four down trains on weekdays with an extra train in each direction on Mondays. There was also one train in each direction on Sundays.

By July 1922 there were six up and four down trains on Monday-to-Saturday as seen in the table below. There were no Sunday trains.

On 1 January 1923 Ynys became part of the London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS). By 1928 they were running xx up and xxx down trains. The service was the same in the summer of 1932.

With the outbreak of the Second World War an emergency timetable was introduced from 11 September 1939, and Ynys had only three trains in each direction on Monday-to-Saturday. The service was improved from 1 January 1940 when six trains ran in each direction on Monday-to-Saturday.

On 1 January 1948 Ynys became part of the British Railways London Midland Region. The summer 1948 timetable showed seven up and seven down trains on Monday-to-Saturday as shown in the table below.

In 1939 Billy Butlin built a holiday camp at Penychain on the former Cambrian line to the west of Afon Wen. Due to the war it did not open for holidaymakers until the summer season of 1947 although it was used during the war by the Royal Navy. The opening of the holiday camp brought a lot of extra traffic in the form of holiday specials to the Menai Bridge – Afon Wen line during the summer months, and the specials were much longer than routine service trains.

Scheduled passenger services had improved by the mid 1950s. The summer timetable for 1957 showed eight up and seven down trains Monday-to-Saturday as seen in the table below. There were many other trains that did not call at Ynys..

The station always presented a smart appearance, the buildings were kept clean, and the level crossing gates were always well painted.

DMUs were introduced onto many services from 1958. The line remained busy in the summer months into the 1960s but during the winter period it was very quiet. The Reshaping of British Railways report of 1963 (The ‘Beeching’ Report) recommended that the line between Caernarfon and Afon Wen be closed completely. This was despite the still very heavy holiday traffic in the summer. Interestingly in 1964 steam-hauled trains were used on most services with DMUs being sent elsewhere. The line between Caernarfon and Afon Wen closed completely on 7 December 1964.

Although the station never saw much business, the rail service was replaced with a bus service provided by Crosville Motor Sevices Ltd. This survived for several seasons before being withdrawn.

The line through Ynys was not lifted immediately, and track was still in situ in 1968. The station platforms survived in a derelict condition until the early 1980s. In May 2012 the stationmaster’s house was extant and in use as a private dwelling.

Timetable from Chris Totty, tickets from Michael Stewart route map drawn by Alan Young

Sources:

• Bangor to Portmadoc including the Llanberis lines – V Mitchell & K Smith – Middlewood Press 2010
• Bradshaws Rail Times December 1895 - Middlewood Press 2011
• Bradshaws Rail Times July 1922 - Guild Publishing 1986
  
• British Railways (London Midland Region) Timetable Summer 1948
• British Railways (London Midland Region) Timetable Summer 1957
• British Railways (London Midland Region) Timetable Summer 1962
• From Chester to Holyhead: The Branch Lines – B Rear - OPC 2003
• LMS Branch Lines in North Wales vol.1 Bangor Afonwen, Lanberis and Nantle - W G Rear -
• LMS Time Table Summer 1932
• Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain a Chronology - M Quick - Railway and Canal Historical Society 2009

To see the other stations on the Menai Bridge - Afonwen line click on the station name: Menai Bridge, Treborth, Port Dinorwic (1st), Port Dinorwic (2nd), Griffiths Crossing, Caernarvon, Carnarvon Pant, Dinas, Llanwnda, Groeslon, Penygroes, Pant Glas, Brynkir, Llangybi, Chwilog & Afon Wen