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 Central is a major station on the South Wales Main Line. It is located in the capital of Wales, Cardiff, 144 miles 77 chains (233 km) down the line from London Paddington, via Bristol Parkway, and 170 miles 30 chains (274 km) measured via Stroud. It is one of the city's two urban rail network hubs, along with Cardiff Queen Street. Opened in 1850 as Cardiff station, it was renamed Cardiff General in 1924 and then Cardiff Central in 1973.
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. It is located near the major thoroughfare of Queen Street and is one of 20 stations in the city. Along with Cardiff Central, it is one of the two major hubs of the Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes local rail network. The station and 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 (RR) 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.
Penarth railway station is the railway station serving the town of Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. It is the terminus of Network Rail's Penarth branch running from Cogan Junction to Penarth station, 1 mile 12 chains from the junction and 2 miles 67 chains south of Cardiff Central station. The Penarth branch ran from Cogan Junction to Biglis Junction, a rail mileage of 5 miles 65 chains and was officially closed beyond Penarth after the last passenger train ran on Saturday 4 May 1968.
Barry Island railway station is a railway station, 9+1⁄4 miles (14.9 km) south-west of Cardiff Central, serving Barry Island in South Wales. The station has been the terminus – and only remaining active station at the end of the Barry branch of the Cardiff Central to Barry Island line since the closure of Barry Pier station in 1976, the last passenger working through Barry Island tunnel to the Pier station being an enthusiasts' special in 1973. Previous to that year, only a few revenue-earning workings to meet up with the former P&A Campbell's paddle-steamer trips to Weston-super-Mare or other Somerset/Devon havens, were made following May 1964.
Barry railway station is one of three stations serving the town of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales. This one, Barry Town, is preceded by Barry Docks and Cadoxton stations on the Barry Branch which runs from Cardiff Central to a fourth station at Barry Island, the terminus. Barry is also the junction at the start of the Vale of Glamorgan Line which serves Rhoose and Llantwit Major and terminates at Bridgend.
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.
Pontyclun railway station is an unstaffed, minor railway station in Pontyclun, in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. The station is at street level, on Station Approach, Pontyclun. It is a stop on the South Wales Main Line, served by trains on the Maesteg Line, and occasionally by the Swanline Cardiff to Swansea regional services, as well as one early-morning daily service to Manchester and a late-night daily service to Carmarthen. The station and all trains are operated by Transport for Wales Rail. It is 181 miles 40 chains (292.1 km) from the zero point at London Paddington, measured via Stroud.
Cardiff Bay railway station, formerly Cardiff Bute Road, is a station serving the Cardiff Bay and Butetown areas of Cardiff, Wales. It is the southern terminus of the Butetown branch line 1 mile (1.5 km) south of Cardiff Queen Street.
Merthyr Tydfil railway station is a railway station serving the town of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. It is the terminus of the Merthyr branch of the Merthyr Line. Passenger services are provided by Transport for Wales. The station has one platform, and is situated near to the Tesco Superstore in the town.
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 Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway was a railway company that constructed a standard gauge line in South Wales, connecting Llantrisant and the Taff Vale Railway near Treforest. It ran through thinly populated country, and linked to a number of iron mines, collieries and other mineral sites. It opened in stages in 1863 and 1864. In 1865 through passenger trains from the Cowbridge Railway ran over the line, to Pontypridd, although for some time there were no passenger stations on its own network. At the Llantrisant end, it was reliant on broad gauge railway companies which were not always friendly to it. The company leased its line to the Taff Vale Railway in 1870.
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.
Barry Railway Class C were originally 2-4-0T steam locomotives of the Barry Railway in South Wales. They were designed by J. H. Hosgood and built by Sharp Stewart.
The Cardiff Riverside Branch was a short railway constructed as an industrial railway in Cardiff, South Wales by the Great Western Railway. The line was subsequently upgraded for passenger services.
Cardiff Crockherbtown was a railway station in the area then known as Crockherbtown in central Cardiff, and was the main Cardiff station of the Rhymney Railway. It was opened on 1 April 1871 when the Rhymney Railway opened its own route into Cardiff from Caerphilly, it replaced the nearby Adam Street station, and consisted of two through platforms and a bay. The station was built a short distance north-east of Cardiff Queen Street station of the Taff Vale Railway. In 1888 the station was renamed Cardiff (Rhymney). Passenger returns from 1920 show that 800,000 passengers were using the station per annum. In 1922, the Rhymney Railway and Taff Vale Railways became part of the Great Western Railway (GWR), and in 1924 the station was renamed again to Cardiff Parade.
