English: Assurance Saloon 170518 at Fishguard Harbour. All of the level and near level land here was hacked out of the cliff (right) in the early years of the 20th century to create a port at which the great liners of the day could make landfall. This was all done by the Great Western Railway in order to speed up the passage of transatlantic passengers and mail, who and which could get to London almost a day faster than by landing elsewhere.

With the outbreak of war in 1914 the transatlantic trade ended, and after 1918 the liners mainly went to Southampton. Nevertheless, it remained busy with Irish traffic until the late 1980s, by which time air travel had captured all the former foot passengers, whilst the rest took their own cars. Even into the 1960s there might be three full length trains to connect with Irish sailings, but by around the year 2000 it was not unknown for the connecting trains to and from Swansea to run empty, although even now the midday arrival and departure can carry a fair number of passengers.

Of some note is that the railway