This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: It needs more explanation of the South Wales Metro and corresponding changes to the line.(April 2022) |
Merthyr Line | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Owner | Transport for Wales [1] |
Locale | Cardiff Rhondda Cynon Taff |
Termini | |
Service | |
Type | Heavy rail |
System | National Rail |
Operator(s) | Transport for Wales Rail |
Rolling stock | Class 150 DMUs |
Technical | |
Line length | [2] |
Number of tracks | Double track Cardiff to Abercynon, single track with loops on Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil branches |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Merthyr line is a commuter railway line in South Wales from central Cardiff to Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare. The line is part of the Cardiff urban rail network, known as the Valley Lines.
The line is historically the Taff Vale Railway, the first rail development in the Valleys in the 1840s and associated with the notorious Taff Vale Judgment in 1901 when the courts penalised trade unions for losses caused by strikes.
The Aberdare line was closed in 1964 under the Beeching Axe. The line was re-opened in 1988 in an attempt to stimulate jobs and employment in the valley in response to the closure of the last few coal mines.
In 2005, following further grant from the Welsh Assembly, the stations at Abercynon, Penrhiwceiber, Fernhill, Cwmbach and Aberdare were extended to four-car length to accommodate longer peak trains in an initiative to relieve overcrowding, train leasing/running costs also funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.
The line follows the Rhondda line as far as Pontypridd, serving Cathays, Llandaf, Radyr, Taff's Well, Treforest and Pontypridd. It then divides at Abercynon with separate branches to Merthyr and Aberdare up diverging valleys.
The Merthyr branch serves Quakers Yard, Merthyr Vale, Troed-y-rhiw, Pentre-bach and Merthyr Tydfil. The Welsh Assembly Government confirmed in February 2007 that it is grant funding, in conjunction with European Union Objective 1 assistance, a scheme to upgrade the line north of Abercynon, including reinstatement of 2 miles of double track, to enable the introduction of a half-hourly train service, the revenue costs of which the Welsh Assembly Government will also meet. The enhanced service was said to commence in 2008 but postponed to May 2009. [3] [4]
The Aberdare branch serves Penrhiwceiber, Mountain Ash, Fernhill, Cwmbach and Aberdare. Although following the original TVR route, beyond the former Abercwmboi Halt to access Tower Colliery, the line diverts onto the route of the former Vale of Neath Railway. The line continues beyond Aberdare – for goods purposes only – to serve Tower Colliery, which was the last deep coal mine to remain open in South Wales. Mountain Ash station was redeveloped with a grant from the Welsh Assembly Government in the early part of the decade, the scheme including the provision of a new station and a passing loop to permit an upgrade of the passenger service to two trains per hour from late 2003. There are a few gaps in the half-hourly service to enable coal/stone trains to run to/from Tower Colliery/Hirwaun.
The line is currently operated by Transport for Wales (TfW) as part of the Valley Lines network. TfW replaced the previous franchise, Arriva Trains Wales in October 2018.
Both the Merthyr and Aberdare branch lines have a half-hourly service during the day which decreases to hourly in the evening. On a Sunday service frequency decreases to two-hourly.
In December 2017, Arriva Trains Wales introduced extra Sunday morning services on the Aberdare line on a trial basis. This was in response to demand from the local Assembly Member. [5] The trial was deemed a success and the extra Sunday services were made permanent from April 2018. [6]
Since its termination at Aberdare following the Beeching Axe, there have been various proposals to extend the line northwards towards Hirwaun again. In recent years, these have been driven by the Welsh Assembly Government.
In 2006, a study by local transport alliance Sewta appeared to rule out any such extension for the foreseeable future.
In November 2009, WAG sponsored Network Rail in a feasibility study to reopening both the section to Hirwaun, and parts of the former Anglesey Central Railway between Llangefni on Anglesey, and Bangor. Network Rail has already begun work on gathering evidence for its study, beginning with cutting away vegetation on track sections to examine the condition of rails and track bedding. Its report was expected to be published in early 2010, before any business case to reopen the lines can be developed. [7]
It was announced in March 2011 that the Welsh Assembly Government's 2011–12 capital programme would include the re-opening of the line to Hirwaun as part of the Cynon Valley Scheme [8] although the project appears to have advanced little at that time. In 2019-2020, the Cardiff Capital Region's transport authority secured £100,000 of funding from the Welsh Government's Local Transport Fund to undertake a Welsh Transport Appraisal Guidance (WelTAG) 1 study into the feasibility of extending Aberdare Line passenger services through reopened Trecynon and Hirwaun stations to a new terminus serving the Tower strategic development site. [9]
As already noted the line is now closed above Aberdare, but the aspiration to reopen with a passenger service remains, so the track is being retained in situ.
On 16 July 2012 plans to electrify the line were announced by the Government as part of a £9.4bn package of investment of the railways in England and Wales. [10]
The announcement was made as an extension of the electrification of the South Wales Main Line from Cardiff to Swansea and the electrification of the south Wales Valley Lines at a total cost of £350 million. The investment will require new trains and should result in reduced journeys times and cheaper maintenance. Work was expected to start between 2014 and 2019. [11]
However, as part of Welsh Government's South Wales Metro this line has been taken over, [12] and is now being electrified [13] in preparation for new Class 398 tram-train rolling stock. [14]
Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes is the network of passenger suburban railway services radiating from Cardiff, Wales. It includes lines within the city itself, the Vale of Glamorgan and the South Wales Valleys.
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.
Abercynon is a village and community in the Cynon Valley within the unitary authority of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The community comprises the village and the districts of Carnetown and Grovers Field to the south, Navigation Park to the east, and Glancynon to the north.
The South Wales Valleys are a group of industrialised peri-urban valleys in South Wales. Most of the valleys run north–south, roughly parallel to each other. Commonly referred to as "The Valleys", they stretch from Carmarthenshire in the west to Monmouthshire in the east; to the edge of the pastoral country of the Vale of Glamorgan and the coastal plain near the cities of Swansea, Cardiff, and Newport.
The Rhondda line, also known as the Treherbert line, is a commuter railway line in South Wales from Cardiff to Treherbert. The line follows the Merthyr line as far as Pontypridd, where it then diverges to continue along the Rhondda Valley.
The Cardiff City Line is a commuter railway line in Cardiff that runs between Radyr and Cardiff Central via Fairwater.
Hirwaun is a village and community at the north end of the Cynon Valley in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. It is 4 miles (6 km) NW of the town of Aberdare, and comes under the Aberdare post town. At the 2001 census, Hirwaun had a population of 4,851. increasing at the 2011 census to 4,990. The village is on the Heads of the Valleys Road and at the southern edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park.
Treforest railway station is a railway station serving the village of Treforest, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is located on the Merthyr Line and the Rhondda Line 18 km north west of Cardiff Central. Passenger services are provided by Transport for Wales.
Mountain Ash Railway Station is a railway station serving the town of Mountain Ash in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is located on the Aberdare branch of the Merthyr Line and on the banks of the Afon Cynon, a major river in the town of Mountain Ash.
Penrhiwceiber railway station serves the village of Penrhiwceiber, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is located on the Aberdare branch of the Merthyr Line between the town of Mountain Ash and the village of Abercynon. Passenger services are provided by Transport for Wales.
Eastbrook railway station is a railway station serving the Eastbrook area of Dinas Powys, a village near Cardiff, South Wales. It is located on Network Rail's Barry Branch 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) south of Cardiff Central towards Barry Island and Bridgend.
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) north northwest of Cardiff Central. Passenger services are provided by Transport for Wales.
Llwynypia railway station is a railway station serving the town of Llwynypia in Wales. It is located on the Rhondda Line.
Ynyswen railway station is a railway station serving the village of Ynyswen in Rhondda Cynon Taf, south Wales. It is located on the Rhondda Line.
The Vale of Neath Railway (VoNR) was a broad gauge railway company, that built a line from Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare to Neath, in Wales, mostly to transport the products of the Merthyr iron industries to ports on Swansea Bay.
Abercynon railway station is the railway station serving the village of Abercynon in the Cynon Valley, Wales. It is located on the Merthyr Line, 15.5 miles (25 km) north of Cardiff Central. Passenger services are provided by Transport for Wales.
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.
Hirwaun was a railway station serving the village of Hirwaun in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.
The South Wales Metro is an integrated heavy rail, light rail and bus-based public transport services and systems network currently being developed in South East Wales around the hub of Cardiff Central. The first phase was approved for development in October 2013. Works are currently under way, with a new depot under construction at Taff's Well and new trains being built by Stadler Rail in Switzerland. The development will also include the electrification of the core Valley Lines and new stations.