Rail transport in Cardiff
Parts of this article (those related to the South Wales Metro) need to be updated. (September 2019) |
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.
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Services to/from Cardiff
Transport for Wales
- National
- Cardiff Central – Newport – Hereford – Shrewsbury – Wrexham General – Chester – Rhyl – Llandudno Junction – Holyhead
- Cardiff Central – Newport – Hereford – Manchester Piccadilly
- Cardiff Central – Bridgend – Port Talbot Parkway – Neath – Swansea – Llanelli – Carmarthen – Milford Haven
- Cardiff Central – Newport – Gloucester – Cheltenham Spa
- Regional
- Cardiff Central – Bridgend – Port Talbot Parkway – Neath – Swansea
- Cardiff Central – Rogerstone – Risca and Pontymister – Ebbw Vale Parkway
- Local
These services operate on the
- Cardiff Central – Coryton
- Cardiff Central – Ninian Park – Fairwater – Radyr
- Cardiff Central – Grangetown – Penarth
- Cardiff Central – Grangetown – Dinas Powys – Barry – Barry Island
- Cardiff Central – Grangetown – Dinas Powys – Barry – Rhoose Cardiff International Airport – Llantwit Major – Bridgend
- Cardiff Queen Street – Cardiff Bay
- Cardiff Central – Pontyclun – Bridgend – Maesteg
- Cardiff Central – Cardiff Queen Street – Caerphilly – Ystrad Mynach – Bargoed – Rhymney
- Cardiff Central – Cardiff Queen Street – Radyr – Pontypridd – Abercynon – Merthyr Tydfil
- Cardiff Central – Cardiff Queen Street – Radyr – Pontypridd – Abercynon – Mountain Ash – Aberdare
- Cardiff Central – Cardiff Queen Street – Radyr – Pontypridd – Tonypandy – Treorchy – Treherbert
Great Western Railway
- National
- London Paddington
- Cardiff Central – Bristol Temple Meads – Bath Spa – Southampton Central – Portsmouth Harbour
- Cardiff Central – Bristol Temple Meads – Weston-super-Mare – Taunton
- Regional
- Cardiff Central – Newport – Filton Abbey Wood – Bristol Temple Meads
- Cardiff Central – Bridgend – Port Talbot Parkway – Neath – Swansea
- Daily/Summer Weekend extensions to Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock respectively
CrossCountry
- National
- Nottingham
Stations in Cardiff
All 20 railway stations in Cardiff are owned by
Cardiff Central[1] and Cardiff Queen Street are the main hubs of the city and are the two busiest stations in Wales.
Cardiff Central is one of the United Kingdom's major railway stations, providing connections to Newport, Bristol, Bath, Reading, London, Southampton, Portsmouth, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Birmingham and Nottingham. It is located in the south of the Cardiff city centre
Cardiff Queen Street is the hub of the Valley Lines network, with all lines running through the station. It is located in Cardiff's eastern city centre.
Station | Area | Station Code | Platforms | 13/14 Entry/Exit (millions) | Year opened | Lines | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Birchgrove Llwynbedw |
Birchgrove | BCG | 1 | 0.034 | 1929 | Coryton Line | |
Cardiff Bay Bae Caerdydd |
Butetown Cardiff Bay |
CDB | 1 | 1.019 | 1841[2] | Butetown Branch Line
|
|
Cardiff Central Caerdydd Canolog |
Cardiff city centre | CDF | 8 | 11.74 | 1850 | ||
Cardiff Queen Street Caerdydd Heol Y Frenhines |
Cardiff city centre Adamsdown |
CDQ | 5 | 2.463 | 1840 | Butetown Line Coryton Line Merthyr Line Rhondda Line Rhymney Line |
|
Cathays Cathays |
Cathays Cardiff University |
CYS | 2 | 0.807 | 1983 | Merthyr Line Rhondda Line |
|
Coryton Coryton |
Coryton Pantmawr Whitchurch |
COY | 1 | 0.266 | 1911 | Coryton Line | |
Danescourt Danescourt |
Danescourt Llandaff North |
DCT | 2 | 0.086 | 1987 | City Line | |
Fairwater Tyllgoed |
Fairwater | FRW | 2 | 0.051 | 1987 | City Line | |
Grangetown Grangetown |
Grangetown Leckwith |
GTN | 2 | 0.180 | 1882 | Vale of Glamorgan Line | |
Heath High Level Lefel Uchaf y Mynydd Bychan |
Heath Cyncoed |
HHL | 2 | 0.311 | 1915 | Rhymney Line | |
Heath Low Level Lefel Isel y Mynydd Bychan |
Heath Cyncoed |
HLL | 1 | 0.054 | 1911 | Coryton Line | |
Lisvane and Thornhill Llys-faen |
Lisvane Thornhill |
LVT | 2 | 0.176 | 1871 | Rhymney Line | |
Llandaf Llandaf |
Llandaff North Gabalfa Whitchurch |
LLN | 2 | 0.441 | 1840 | Merthyr Line Rhondda Line |
|
Llanishen Llanishen |
Llanishen | LLS | 2 | 0.221 | 1871 | Rhymney Line | |
Ninian Park Parc Ninian |
Leckwith Ninian Park Canton |
NNP | 2 | 0.100 | 1987 | City Line | |
Radyr Radyr |
Radyr Morganstown |
RDR | 3 | 0.469 | 1863 | Merthyr Line Rhondda Line City Line |
|
Rhiwbina Rhiwbina |
Rhiwbina | RHI | 1 | 0.046 | 1911 | Coryton Line | |
Ty Glas Tŷ Glas |
Llanishen Heath |
TGS | 1 | 0.131 | 1987 | Coryton Line | |
Waun-Gron Park Parc Waun-Gron |
Fairwater Canton |
WNG | 2 | 0.055 | 1987 | City Line | |
Whitchurch Yr Eglwys Newydd |
Whitchurch | WHT | 1 | 0.011 | 1911 | Coryton Line |
Railway lines
These are the main rail lines that serve Cardiff. Most of the lines are
South Wales Main Line
The
Butetown Line
The
Cardiff City Line
The
Coryton Line
The
. Rail services run to Cardiff Central and Queen Street every 30 minutes, and usually continue on the Radyr Line.Ebbw Valley Railway
The Ebbw Valley Railway was re-opened to passenger rail services in February 2008. The line provides an hourly service between Cardiff Central and Ebbw Vale Town. The line follows the South Wales Main Line eastbound out of Cardiff before diverging north and calling at Rogerstone, Risca and Pontymister, Crosskeys, Newbridge, Llanhilleth and Ebbw Vale Parkway.
Maesteg Line
The
Merthyr Line
The
After calling at Abercynon, the line splits into two branches; one to Merthyr Tydfil via Merthyr Vale and another to Aberdare via Mountain Ash. Frequencies are every 30 minutes on both branches and often link up with Vale of Glamorgan Line services to Barry Island or Bridgend via Rhoose Cardiff International Airport.
Rhondda Line
The
Services run every 30 minutes and often continue through Cardiff onto the Vale of Glamorgan Line to Penarth or Barry Island.
Rhymney Line
The
Services on this stretch of line run every 15 minutes. Every hour, trains continue on the rest of the line to Rhymney. Trains often continue through Cardiff onto the Vale of Glamorgan Line to Penarth.
Vale of Glamorgan Line
The Vale of Glamorgan Line is a line that runs from Cardiff through the largely rural county of the Vale of Glamorgan to Bridgend. The line comprises three branches. Trains call at Grangetown in Cardiff before continuing on the main line to stations in Dinas Powys and Barry, or diverging onto a branch serving Penarth. After Barry, services can either continue again to Rhoose Cardiff International Airport, Llantwit Major and Bridgend or diverge to Barry Island.
Frequencies to Penarth or to Barry Island are every 15 minutes, and to Bridgend via Cardiff Airport are every hour. Train services often continue after Cardiff Queen Street on the Merthyr, Rhondda or Rhymney Lines.
Main destinations
There are direct services from Cardiff Central to the following destinations, with the average scheduled journey time:
Train operators
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Transport connections
The Cardiff Waterbus towards Cardiff Bay stops at Taff Mead Embankment, near Central Station.
Cardiff Airport connects with the Cardiff rail network at Rhoose Cardiff International Airport station, from which free shuttle buses run to the departures terminal.
Future plans
The South Wales Metro System is a proposed major overhaul of the transport systems in South East Wales, including integration of heavy rail and development of light rail and bus-based public transport services around the hub of Cardiff Central.
The disused railway station in the
Network Rail is currently proposing adding an extra two platforms to both Cardiff Central and Cardiff Queen Street station, and installing a light rail metro system in the city.[5]
See also
References
- ^ 51°28′34″N 3°10′48″W / 51.4760°N 3.1800°W
- ^ "BBC - South East Wales - Walk through time". Archived from the original on 27 September 2004.
- ^ Milmo, Dan (21 July 2009). "London to Cardiff rail line will be electrified to cut carbon footprint". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- ^ Gaskell, Simon (9 March 2010). "Calls for disused St Fagans train station to be reopened". WalesOnline.
- ^ Steffan Rhys (26 November 2008). "News – Wales News – Train-tram could set off in transport proposals". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2 January 2010.