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The Maerdy Branch was a railway branch line in South Wales. Financed and operated by the Taff Vale Railway, on amalgamation it became part of the Great Western Railway in 1923. Designed and mainly operated as a coal mining freight railway, its creation and demise was wholly defined by the South Wales Coalfield.
The branch was wholly designed, being developed by integrating a series of private industrial track railways with the extension of the Taff Vale Railway from the south at Pontypridd. In 1840, the TVR bought the private Ferndale to Maerdy colliery track and then extended it to Porth in 1849. [1]
Passenger operations began in 1875, serving interim stations from Porth at Ynyshir (opened 1876), Pontygwaith, Tylorstown, and Ferndale. Though the line had opened up to Maerdy the same year (with the sinking & commissioning of Mardy Colliery), it was not until 1889 that the passenger service was extended there from Ferndale. Passenger traffic was neither heavy nor a major contribution to line finances, and so in 1900 the GWR introduced steam rail motors. Ten or eleven return trips each weekday was the standard service frequency for the branch for most of its life.
The last passenger train ran on 13 June 1964 as a result of the Beeching cuts, leaving only the freight service to Mardy Colliery. [2] As a result, the line was reduced to single track working. The line was placed into maintenance only upkeep from June 1986 and subsequently closed completely in August that year, after the coal mined at Mardy was raised at Tower Colliery.
The track was lifted in 1996, with the trackbed and most of the bridges left in situ. This formed the canal section of the Taff Trail cycle route.
In 2004, Rhondda Cynon Taff council came to an arrange with Network Rail to buy the trackbed from just north of Maerdy Junction to Margaret Street, Pontygwaith and convert it into a relief road for Ynyshir. Construction work started in May 2005, removing the remains of Ynyshir station, the bridges at Llanwonno road and Station street, and the replacement of the Rhondda Fach bridge at Ynyshir and the Ynyshir road bridge. [3] Today the A4233 Porth and Lower Rhondda Fach Relief Road (Porth Bypass), has meant a significant decrease in traffic flows through the main street, Ynyshir Road. [4]
In April 2019, a local group of enthusiasts looking to improve the local economic outlook by bringing tourists to the area, proposed reinstating the 3 miles of track north of Tylorstown to Meardy. The proposal includes reinstatement of some stations and former industrial buildings. [5]
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.
Maerdy is a village and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, and within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying at the head of the Rhondda Fach Valley.
Porth is a town and a community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. Lying in the Rhondda Valley, it is regarded as the gateway connecting the Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach valleys due to both valleys meeting at Porth. The Welsh word "porth" means "gate". Porth is a predominantly English-speaking community.
Ynyshir is a village and community located in the Rhondda Valley, within Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. The name of the village means "long island" in Welsh and takes its name from a farm in the area, falling within the historic parishes of Ystradyfodwg and Llanwynno (Llanwonno). The community of Ynyshir lies between the small adjoining village of Wattstown and the larger town of neighbouring Porth.
Rhondda, or the Rhondda Valley, is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley – so that the singular "Rhondda Valley" and the plural are both commonly used. The area forms part of the South Wales Valleys. From 1897 until 1996 there was a local government district of Rhondda. The former district at its abolition comprised sixteen communities. Since 1996 these sixteen communities of the Rhondda have been part of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough. The area of the former district is still used as the Rhondda Senedd constituency and Westminster constituency, having an estimated population in 2020 of 69,506. It is most noted for its historical coalmining industry, which peaked between 1840 and 1925. The valleys produced a strong Nonconformist movement manifest in the Baptist chapels that moulded Rhondda values in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also known for its male voice choirs and in sport and politics.
Ferndale is a town and community located in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Neighbouring villages are Blaenllechau, Maerdy and Tylorstown. Ferndale was industrialised in the mid-19th century. The first coal mine shaft was sunk in 1857 and was the first community to be intensively industrialised in the Rhondda Valley.
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.
Aberdare railway station is a railway station serving the town of Aberdare in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is the terminus of the Aberdare branch of the Merthyr Line, 22½ miles (36 km) directly north of Cardiff Central. Passenger services are provided by Transport for Wales.
Porth railway station is a railway station serving the town of Porth in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is located on the Rhondda Line.
Treherbert railway station serves the village of Treherbert in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is the northern terminus of the Rhondda Line, 23 miles (37 km) north west of Cardiff Central.
Tylorstown (Pendyrus) is a village and community located in the Rhondda valley, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is neighboured by the villages of Blaenllechau, Ferndale, Penrhys, Pontygwaith and Stanleytown.
Blaenllechau is a small village located in the Rhondda Fach valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf. Neighbouring villages are Ferndale, Maerdy and Tylorstown. The population of Blaenllechau is less than 1000.
Stanleytown is a village located in the Rhondda, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.
Pontygwaith is a small village located in the Rhondda Fach valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, in the community of Tylorstown.
Maerdy Colliery was a coal mine located in the South Wales village of Maerdy, in the Rhondda Valley, located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, and within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. Opened in 1875, it closed in December 1990.
Ynyshir railway station served the village of Ynyshir, in the Rhondda Fach valley in south Wales, from 1876 to 1964.
The Rhondda by-pass, also known as the Porth and Lower Rhondda Fach Relief Road, is a relief road running through the Rhondda, a valley in South Wales. It is built partly on the former Maerdy Branch of the Rhondda Line and a former branch line to Cymmer Colliery.
Tylorstown railway station served the mining community of Tylorstown in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, between 1877 and 1964.
Maerdy railway station was a railway station in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. It served the town of Maerdy between 1889 and 1964.
