Swansea District line

Map of the Swansea District line (orange).

v t e Swansea District Line
Legend
South Wales Main Line to Port Talbot Parkway Briton Ferry to Briton Ferry Sidings and Baglan Bay South Wales Main Line to Neath Court Sart Junction Neath River Viaduct former swing bridge over River Neath Vale of Neath Railway to Swansea Docks M4 motorway Llandarcy oil terminal Llandarcy Platform Llandarcy refinery sidings South Wales Main Line to Skewen Peniel Green Tunnel (Lonlas Tunnel) 924 yd 845 m Felin Fran Halt Swansea Vale Railway to Swansea St Thomas Morriston Branch Pentrefelin Halt Great Western Railway to Landore Low Level and Swansea High Street River Tawe Morriston Viaduct Llangyfelach Tunnel 1192 yd 1090 m Llangyfelach Penllergaer Tunnel 284 yd 260 m Pont Lliw Llanelly Railway to Grovesend River Loughor Grovesend Colliery Loop Junction Heart of Wales line to Pontarddulais Morlais Junction Llangennech Bynea West Wales lines to Swansea Trostre Steelworks Llanelli West Wales lines to Carmarthen

The Swansea District line is a section of railway line running through the northern part of Swansea, Wales and is primarily used for freight transportation, although minimal passenger services also traverse the route. It was built by the Great Western Railway in 1912 to provide a faster and less steeply graded route between London and Fishguard, in connection with the recently opened harbour at the latter place. It can thereby claim to be the last mainline railway to have been built in Wales. The double track line runs from Cwrt Sart junction at Briton Ferry on the South Wales Main Line to Morlais junction near Pontarddulais on the Heart of Wales line.

Current usage

The line is currently used mainly for freight traffic, but Transport for Wales run two or three services along the line in each direction on Mondays to Saturdays, one of which is the daytime boat train between Fishguard Harbour and Cardiff. The boat train service is run in connection with the Stena Line ferry to/from Rosslare in Ireland. By taking the Swansea District line, these passenger services bypass Neath, Swansea and Gowerton railway stations.

Future plans

Network Rail are considering rationalisation of this line following replacement of the Loughor railway viaduct and re-doubling of the track at Gowerton, work which was completed in 2013. This could mean more traffic being diverted via the South Wales Main Line and Gowerton station. ^[1]

The rail transport campaign group, the Railway Development Society has proposed instead that this link be restored for passenger services including building stations to serve Llandarcy, Morriston and Grovesend. ^[2]

In 2017, the UK Government commissioned an independent report by the University of South Wales into developing a new parkway station at Felindre. ^{[3] [4]}

The Department for Transport announced in July 2019 that it would be proposing the re-opening of the District line to passenger traffic as part of a £20m project which would see a West Wales Parkway station open near to Felindre. ^[5]

Loss of gauge

Careless maintenance work on the Swansea District line has reduced the rail gauge available on the Swansea District line in the past, reducing its use to freight. ^[6]

References

1. Network Rail RUS Route 14, Page 8
2. "West Wales Direct - The Forgotten Rail Route" (PDF). Railway Development Society. November 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016.
3. "New Swansea railway station 'ticket to opportunity'". BBC News. 7 February 2019.
4. Cole, Professor Stuart (February 2018). "West Wales Parkway Station - A Scoping Study For The Office Of The Secretary Of State For Wales" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 January 2025.
5. "Cardiff Central railway station to get £58m upgrade". BBC News. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
6. DB Schenker Rail (UK) Ltd. rejection of proposed G1 Network Change

External links

• RDS Wales
• Swansea District Lines (Great Western Railway)
• Morriston Branch (Great Western Railway)