Aber railway station

For the disused station of the same name on the North Wales Coast Line, see Aber railway station (Gwynedd).

8+1⁄4 miles (13.3 km) north of Cardiff Central on the Valley Lines network.

The station is located in the Bondfield Park and Trecenydd areas of Caerphilly.

History

Opened in April 1908 by the Rhymney Railway as Beddau Halt, it became part of the Great Western Railway during the Grouping of 1923, and renamed Aber Junction Halt on 17 September 1926. The line then passed on nationalisation in 1948. It was renamed Aber Halt on 6 May 1968, then Aber on 5 May 1969.

When Sectorisation was introduced, the station was served by Regional Railways until the Privatisation of British Railways.

Another station also called Beddau Halt existed on the Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway and should not be confused with this station.

The 'Junction' suffix refers to the fact that until the early 1980s, there were two junctions near here – one to the south between the current line via Caerphilly (which opened in 1871) and the original route down the Big Hill via Penrhos Junction to Walnut Tree Junction near Taffs Well on the Taff Vale Railway route from Cardiff to Merthyr Tydfil and another to the north for the branch line to Senghenydd. The former opened in 1858 and provided the Rhymney company with its original access to Cardiff General and the docks. It was freight-only for most of its life, but was heavily used in post-grouping and BR days by coal trains originating from the various collieries on the Rhymney line heading to the marshalling yard at Radyr. This avoided the need for such trains to use the busy section through Cardiff Queen Street, even though the 3½ mile line was steeply graded (hence the nickname – the 1 in 48 ruling gradient was however favourable for loaded trains). The latter opened in 1894 and was used for both freight (to Windsor Colliery near the terminus) and passenger services.

The Senghenydd branch passenger service ended in June 1964 as a result of the Beeching Axe, but it remained in use for colliery traffic until 1977 ^[1] whilst the Taffs Well route closed in June 1982 ^[2] – both have since been dismantled.

Aber
Aber railway station in June 2023
General information
Location	Trecenydd, Caerphilly, Caerphilly Wales
Coordinates	51°34′30″N3°13′48″W / 51.5749°N 3.2299°W / 51.5749; -3.2299
Grid reference	ST148869
Managed by	Transport for Wales
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	ABE
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Opened	April 1908 (as Beddau Halt)
Key dates
17 September 1926	Renamed Aber Junction Halt
6 May 1968	Renamed Aber Halt
5 May 1969	Renamed Aber
Passengers
2018/19	0.245 million

Passenger Volume at Aber ^[3]

	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Entries and exits	228,480	15,712	73642	103,976

Services

Spring 2016

During Spring 2016 Aber railway station is served by 4 trains per hour each way, off peak, Monday to Friday:

• 3 per hour from Bargoed to Penarth
• 1 per hour from Rhymney to Penarth
• 3 per hour from Penarth to Bargoed
• 1 per hour from Penarth to Rhymney

Apart from Gilfach Fargoed, the station before Bargoed, which is served just once an hour, there is a train every 15 minutes calling at all stations between Bargoed and Penarth. ^[4] In the evenings, the service drops to hourly and on Sundays to two-hourly (with southbound trains running to Barry Island).

June 2024 timetable change

These services have now been operating from Rhymney/Bargoed to Barry Island/Bridgend since June 2024. It has increase the number of trains from one to two trains per hour that continues up to Rhymney every Monday to Saturday.

This station serves four trains per hour each way, Monday to Saturday,

• 2 per hour from Bargoed to Barry Island
• 1 per hour from Rhymney to Barry Island
• 1 per hour from Rhymney to Bridgend
• 2 per hour from Barry Island to Bargoed
• 1 per hour from Barry Island to Rhymney
• 1 per hour from Bridgend to Rhymney

Apart from Glifach Fargoed and Energlyn & Churchill park as The Gilfach Fargoed station only serves one train per hour and the Energlyn & Churchill park only serves two trains per hour.

The Class 231, Class 150 and Class 153 trains operates to Barry Island and the Class 150 and Class 153 trains operates to Bridgend.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Caerphilly		Transport for Wales Rhymney Line		Energlyn & Churchill Park or Llanbradach
	Historical railways
Caerphilly Station and line open		Great Western Railway Rhymney Line		Pwll-y-Pant Station closed; Line open
	Disused railways
Penyrheol Halt Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Senghenydd Branch		Terminus

References

1. Senghennyd – The Town, The Colliery, The Disasters And More Archived 15 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine www.MW0GKX.co.uk; Retrieved 2013-09-12
2. Body, G (1983). PSL Field Guides – Railways of the Western Region. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 34. ISBN   0-85059-546-0.
3. "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
4. GB eNRT 2015-16 Edition, Table 130 (Network Rail)

Further reading

• R.V.J. Butt (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN   1-85260-508-1
• Station on navigable O.S. map