The Pembroke and Tenby Railway was a locally promoted railway in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was built by local supporters and opened in 1863. The line, now known as the Pembroke Dock branch line, remains in use at the present day.
In 1814 a Royal Navy Dockyard had been established at Pembroke Dock.[1] The South Wales Railway had been authorised to build a branch line to Pembroke, but had failed to do so. Their terminus in Neyland was a short ferry crossing from Pembroke Dock.
In 1866, the Pembroke and Tenby Railway was extended to Whitland; Whitland was on the South Wales Railway broad gauge main line but being on the narrow gauge – later known as standard gauge – it was not possible to run Pembroke and Tenby trains on the South Wales Railway lines to Carmarthen. The intention of the Pembroke and Tenby Railway was to make an alliance with other narrow gauge railways at Carmarthen, and the Great Western Railway (as successor to the South Wales Railway) did provide a narrow gauge link to Carmarthen. Experiencing financial difficulties, the company sold its line to the Great Western Railway in 1897.
- ^ M R C Price, The Pembroke and Tenby Railway, Oakwood Press, Headington, 1986, ISBN 0 85361 327 3