The station houses the headquarters of the tourist railway which climbs for 4.7 miles (7.6 km) from Llanberis to the summit of Snowdon, the highest peak in Wales.[2] The station stands in the valley bottom at an altitude of (353 ft (108 m)), the summit station stands at 3,493 feet (1,065 m), 68 feet (21 metres) below the summit of the mountain.
The station opened with the railway on 6 April 1896, but closed the same day following an accident.[3] It reopened on 9 April 1897, without mishap and has operated since, even throughout most of the Second World War, as there was military activity near the mountaintop.[4]
The station has two platforms. The first stretch of line is uphill at 1 in 50, steep for a main line but shallow compared with the 1 in 6 incline that begins shortly afterwards. The line's engine shed and workshop are visible from the platform ends.[5]
Griffiths, Roger; Smith, Paul (1999). The Directory of British Engine Sheds and Principal Locomotive Servicing Points: 1 Southern England, the Midlands, East Anglia and Wales. OPC Railprint. ISBN978-0-86093-542-1. OCLC59458015.
Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2010). Bangor to Portmadoc: Including Three Llanberis Lines. Country Railway Routes. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN978-1-906008-72-7.
