The Taff Vale Railway (TVR) was a standard gauge railway in South Wales, built by the Taff Vale Railway Company to serve the iron and coal industries around Merthyr Tydfil and to connect them with docks in Cardiff. It was opened in stages in 1840 and 1841.
Cardiff Queen Street railway station is a railway station serving the north and east of Central Cardiff, Wales. It is the fourth busiest railway station in Wales. Being located near Queen Street, it is one of 20 stations in the city. It is, along with Cardiff Central, one of the two major hubs of the Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes local rail network. The station, and all of its services are run by Transport for Wales.
From 1839 the Trustees of the Marquis of Bute, operated a large dock operation in Cardiff, the "Bute Docks". This was very successful, but was overwhelmed by the huge volume of coal exported through Cardiff. At the same time it was seen that railway companies, especially the Taff Vale Railway (TVR), were making money conveying the coal to the docks.
The Rhymney Railway was a railway company in South Wales, founded to transport minerals and materials to and from collieries and ironworks in the Rhymney Valley of South Wales, and to docks in Cardiff. It opened a main line in 1858, and a limited passenger service was operated in addition.
The Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway (B&MR) was a railway company in Wales. It was originally intended to link the towns in its name. Finding its access to Merthyr difficult at first, it acquired the Rumney Railway, an old plateway, and this gave it access to Newport docks. This changed its emphasis from rural line to mineral artery.
Pontypridd Graig railway station was a railway station located in the South Wales valleys town of Pontypridd, on the Barry Railway. Although the line was opened for mineral traffic on 18 July 1889 to take coal from Rhondda to the Docks, the passenger service did not start until 16 March 1896 after much lobbying from local residents along the line. On that date, Barry services commenced between the Taff Vale station at Porth and Barry where the train terminated in the bay platform. On 7 June 1897, a new passenger service began between Pontypridd and Cardiff Clarence Road via St Fagans and Cardiff Riverside. Train journeys commenced at Pontypridd because the Taff Vale was not willing to allow direct competition with its own services from Porth to Cardiff Queen Street. The station was closed to passengers on 5 May 1930 by the GWR who diverted trains via Treforest Junction to its main station at Pontypridd Central.
Taffs Well railway station is a railway station serving the village of Taff's Well, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, as well as neighbouring Gwaelod-y-Garth, Cardiff. It is located on the Merthyr Line and the Rhondda Line. Passenger services are provided by Transport for Wales.
Rhymney railway station serves the town of Rhymney in Wales. Situated on the Valley Lines network 23 miles (37 km) north of Cardiff Central, it is the terminus of the Rhymney Line. The station has sidings to the west of its single platform which are used for the overnight stabling of the diesel multiple unit trains
Aber railway station is a railway station serving the town of Caerphilly, south Wales. It is a stop on the Rhymney Line 8+1⁄4 miles (13.3 km) north of Cardiff Central on the Valley Lines network.
The Barry Railway Company was a railway and docks company in South Wales, first incorporated as the Barry Dock and Railway Company in 1884. It arose out of frustration among Rhondda coal owners at congestion and high charges at Cardiff Docks as well the monopoly held by the Taff Vale Railway in transporting coal from the Rhondda. In addition, the Taff Vale did not have the required capacity for the mineral traffic using the route, leading to lengthy delays in getting to Cardiff.
The Pontypool, Caerleon & Newport Railway was promoted independently to relieve congestion on the heavily worked Eastern Valley Line of the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company. The Great Western Railway put up half the capital, making it in effect a GWR subsidiary. It opened in 1874, and most long distance passenger and goods traffic, especially the heavy mineral traffic, transferred to it. It amalgamated with the GWR in 1876.
The Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway was built to bring the coal output of the Aberdare and Rhondda valleys directly to Alexandra Docks at Newport.
The Rhymney Railway M class was a class of 0-6-2T tank locomotive introduced into traffic on the Rhymney Railway in 1904. These were substantial sized tank engines, and weighed 66 long tons and were 36 feet 9 inches (11.20 m) in length.
The Crumlin Viaduct was a railway viaduct located above the village of Crumlin in South Wales, originally built to carry the Taff Vale Extension of the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway (NA&HR) across the Ebbw River.
The Llancaiach Branch railway line was a mineral branch line in Glamorganshire, South Wales. It was authorised in 1836 as part of the Taff Vale Railway, and its purpose was to connect collieries at Llancaiach and bring their output to Cardiff for onward shipment. It was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and built on the standard gauge. It opened in 1841 from a junction with the Merthyr line immediately south of Abercynon. It was intended to be horse worked, and included a self-acting rope-worked inclined plane near the junction. The collieries were slow to use the line, preferring their customary use of a tramroad and the Glamorganshire Canal, and the value of the line was diminished when the Taff Vale Extension line, an east-west connecting line belonging to the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway, intersected it and cut off the colliery connections, and the line became dormant.
Rail transport in Cardiff has developed to provide connections to many other major cities in the United Kingdom, and to provide an urban rail network for the city and its commuter towns in southeast Wales. Today, there are three train operating companies in Cardiff: Great Western Railway, CrossCountry and Transport for Wales.
Hengoed Viaduct is a disused railway viaduct located above the village of Maesycwmmer, in Caerphilly county borough, South Wales. Grade II* listed, it was originally built to carry the Taff Vale Extension of the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway (NA&HR) across the Rhymney River, and is now part of National Cycle Route 47.
Cathays railways works was a railway engineering development by the Taff Vale Railway to provide its main carriage and wagon works, as well as its main railway depot for the entire TVR system, located in the Cathays suburb of Cardiff, South Wales.
The Cardiff Riverside Branch was a short railway constructed as an industrial railway in Cardiff, South Wales by the Great Western Railway.
Adam Street railway station, was a railway station in Cardiff, and was one of the original termini of the Rhymney Railway, it was opened on 31 March 1858, but was closed to passengers on 1 April 1871, being replaced by the nearby Cardiff Crockherbtown railway station when the Rhymney Railway opened its own route into Cardiff. It remained open as a goods station until 2 May 1966.
