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Trains Wales services in This is an extract from the page on Valley Lines. To access the
main site select either the Taff Valleys and Cardiff section,
the Rhymney Valley, Cardiff and coast section, or the full version which combines the two.
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Cardiff...
...is the gateway to the coast and Valley areas of south east Wales.
A city since 1905, and the capital of Wales since 1955, Cardiff celebrated
both anniversaries in 2005.
The city stands at the mouth of the
River Taff (part of which was diverted in the mid-nineteenth century to clear a site for the what is now Cardiff
Central railway station). Noted for its Victorian arcades and pedestrianised shopping areas, it
also offers top class facilities for sport, theatre and the cinema.
Cardiff Castle (right) has undergone a three-year £8m refurbishment
programme, which included provision of a new
interpretation and visitor centre. The castle has Roman and Norman connections, but, apart from Roman remains
at the base of the south east walls, the Norman Keep and the 15th century
Western Apartments, what you
see is mostly a Victorian reconstruction.
Nearby, the civic centre is considered among the
finest in Europe, and incorporates the museum, law courts, the former Welsh Office
(now the secretariat of the Welsh Assembly), university
buildings and the City Hall. With a referendum in September 1997 narrowly voting for the
establishment of a Welsh Assembly to govern Wales, the City Hall was one of the venues
under consideration to house the body, but the Assembly - which first sat on June 1 1999 -
was first housed in Crickhowell House in Cardiff Bay but has moved into the
adjacent Senedd (Welsh for Senate) Building (see below).
Behind City Hall is
Alexandra Gardens with its imposing War Memorial commemorating two World Wars and more
recent conflicts.
In the city centre, the other building of great antiquity is St John's Church,
parts of which date from
the thirteenth century.
There are several malls off the pedestrianised shopping area, which also has St David's
Hall - renowned for concerts by top-class orchestras and entertainers - and the
Motorpoint International Arena, the venue for conferences, pop concerts, ice shows, and the like.
St David's Phase Two, a new shopping mall on the southern
side of the city centre, opened on October 22 2009.
The New Theatre
celebrated its centenary a few years ago, and stages plays and other productions, including those
by the internationally-celebrated Welsh National Opera until the WNO moved into
its new home: the Wales Millennium Centre for the Performing Arts (see below)
which opened in November 2004 with a spectacular Gala concert attended by Her
Majesty The Queen.
Close
to the city centre, on the banks of the river, the Millennium Stadium (left) is
the
home of Welsh Rugby. Opened for a Wales v South Africa friendly in June 1999, it took on
an international importance when it staged early rounds of the Rugby World Cup
that October,
and the Final on 6 November of the same year. It is now used to stage Wales' home games in
the Six Nations Rugby Tournament, international football matches, concerts and other
high-profile events. While Wembley Stadium was being developed it was also been the venue of prestigious
football matches, including the Worthington and FA Cup Finals. A very
versatile building, it also stages speedway, monster truck and religious
conventions.
A mile to the south, the Cardiff Bay development has transformed the derelict docklands
area into a leisure, residential and light-industrial complex, while the barrage which
dams the mouths of the Taff and Ely rivers was
brought into operation on November 4 1999 to create a 500-acre freshwater lake.
It is now possible to walk from Cardiff Bay to Penarth over the barrage.
To the north of the city, is Llandaff Cathedral, which has been a place of worship for
more than 1,400 years. Partly destroyed by bombs during World War II, the cathedral was
rebuilt and rededicated in 1958, its nave overarched by the sculpture of Christ in Majesty by
Jacob Epstein.
On the city's western boundary is the Museum of Welsh Life at St Fagan's, which
recreates the Welsh way of life in authentic buildings from all over Wales. Dismantled
from their original locations and reassembled at St Fagan's - itself a manor house dating
from the Civil War era - they provide a base for many practitioners of old crafts such as
pottery and woodcarving, and also includes a blacksmith's forge.
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff Bay station is reached via a short spur from Cardiff Queen Street with a journey time of three minutes, and Monday to Saturday trains run every 12 minutes on the hour and 12, 24, 36 and 48 past the hour between 6.36am and 11.48pm .
From Cardiff Bay to Queen Street, Monday to Saturday, trains run at 6, 18, 30, 42 and 54 minutes past the hour between 6.42am and 11.54pm.
On Sundays until March 25, trains run to Cardiff Bay on the hour and
12, 24, 36 and 48 past the hour
between 9.00am and 6.48pm. From Sunday April 1, the first train is at 12.24pm.
Return journeys from the Bay until March 25, are at 6, 18, 30, 42 and 54 minutes past the hour between
9.06am and 6.54pm. From Sunday April 1, the first train is at 12.30pm.
The Cardiff Bay area has been developed as a waterfront park with leisure, residential
and light-industrial complexes on reclaimed derelict dockland, and is the start of the
Taff Trail which can be followed as far as Brecon, 57 miles away.
The major feature is the Barrage which can be reached by road train from its
stop outside the car
park in Stuart Street. You can also walk across the barrage as far as Penarth.
The Welsh assembly meets in
the Senedd (Welsh for Senate), the new debating chamber which has been built
alongside the Pierhead Building (pictured left, a striking
terracotta edifice that was once the headquarters of the Bute Dock and Railway Company, which opened
the first of the docks in 1839, and was the prime influence behind the Taff Vale Railway. It is now used as the Visitor Centre for the National Assembly.
The Wales Millennium Centre for the
Performing Arts opened in November 2004 with a
spectacular Gala Concert attended by Her Majesty the Queen. It is the home of Welsh
National Opera and seven other performing arts groups including the Urdd, the
Welsh organisation for the youth of Wales. Adjoining is Alun Hoddinot Hall,
named after the late Welsh composer, which
is a base for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Outside the Millennium Centre is Roald Dahl Place - named after the children's writer who was born in Cardiff
suburb of Llandaff - built on the site of the basin of the Bute West Dock, now used
for street theatre and open-air concerts. The steel column with water cascading
down it (at extreme right in the photograph alongside) will be recognised by fans of Torchwood - the spin-off from the
successful BBC Wales television series Dr Who, filmed
largely in Cardiff and the surrounding area - as supposedly the entrance to
Torchwood. The latest series of Torchwood has emigrated to the United
States, though.
A coffee bar and art gallery has been established in the Norwegian Seamen's Church where Roald Dahl was baptised as a child. A short distance away
was 'The Tube' - a
cigar-shaped structure which housed the Cardiff Bay visitors' centre. It was the base for
the Spirit of Cardiff, a powerboat which attempted the fastest circumnavigation
of the world in 2002. The target was almost 25,000 miles in 50 days, calling at 26 different
countries, but a series of misadventures, culminating in a heart attack suffered by one of
the crew, led to the attempt being abandoned, though not before a number of records were
broken,
Tied up permanently at the quay alongside the site of The Tube is the Helwick Lightship, which was
stationed off the Gower Peninsular guarding a treacherous sandbank 50 miles
northwest of Cardiff, but is now used as a Christian Fellowship centre.
A short distance along the quay is a sculpture recognising the role of miners
and the mining industry in creating the wealth which made Cardiff the foremost
coal exporting port in Britain; the foundation of the capital city we see today.
A little farther away,
Techniquest is a unique hands-on science centre which demonstrates scientific principles
and phenomena in colourful and surprising ways, while at Harry Ramsden's restaurant, it
is claimed, are served the best fish and chip meals in the world.
The St David's Hotel was one of the first Five-Star rated establishments in the city.
Mermaid Quay a is modern eating and shopping complex which also overlooks Plas
Roald Dahl (Roald Dahl Place).
Boats and water taxis (pictured left) ply their trade around the bay and
up-river as far as the Castle near the city centre. They will also land you on
the Barrage itself - also reached on foot from near the Norwegian Church - where you can see the massive sluice gates in operation.
Between Radyr and Cardiff Central via Danescourt, trains run
at 4 and 34 minutes past the hour between 7.04am and 7.04pm, then at 8.04pm,
9.04pm and
10.04pm.
From Cardiff Central, trains to Radyr run at 6 and 36 minutes past the
hour between 7.06am and 6.36pm, then at 7.36pm, 8.36pm and 9.36pm.
There is no service on Sundays.
Special fares and/or timetables will apply to all Valley Line services on event days at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
City Line serves the western suburbs of Cardiff, linking with the Cardiff-Pontypridd
Route at Radyr.
Although the line was opened in 1859 to provide a though route for Taff Vale Railway
mineral trains bound for Penarth Docks, it was not until 1987 that the line saw its first
regular passenger service. Previously it had been used as a diversionary route and for
football specials to the Halt near Cardiff City's ground at Ninian Park, but the provision
of passenger trains on the branch was an important plank in the joint rail strategy of Mid
and South Glamorgan County Councils, and called for the building of four new stations and
the refurbishing of disused Ninian Park halt. The branch opened to passengers on 'Funday'
the 4th October 1987, but Waungron Park station did not open until 6th November.
At the northern end of the line, was Radyr marshalling yard which controlled the countless
millions of coal wagons on their way to the ports of Cardiff Penarth and Barry.
The branch serves mainly residential areas of western Cardiff.
From Cardiff Central, the line heads
west to skirt the southern boundary of the Rolling Stock maintenance depot where Valley
Line trains are serviced.
Ninian Park, the first stop, is near the former ground of
Cardiff City football club. For the start of the 2009/10 season the club moved a
short distance away to Cardiff City Stadium. This was built on the site of Cardiff Athletic stadium. Across the road from the new
stadium site, replacement athletic facilities had already opened. To the east is the shopping
centre of Canton, and St John's Church, easily found by aiming for its lofty
spire which dominates the skyline.
Waungron Park - unusual for its staggered platforms, one of which
straddles a bridge over the roadway - serves the eastern parts of Fairwater and Ely. There
are a number of small factories close by.
Fairwater is within reach of Cantonian
Upper High and the Bishop of Llandaff High Schools, while in nearby Fairwater Park there
is a dry ski slope.
Danescourt is almost entirely residential, though here is a
pleasant walk from the north of the housing estate to Radyr, which passes through a wooded
area with picnic tables. In the heyday of coal traffic, there was an important marshalling
yard at Radyr, where City Line trains link with those on the Pontypridd-Cardiff
corridor, but all traces have disappeared under a web of residential estates.
From Radyr station there are pleasant walks along the River Taff to Radyr
Weir where salmon may be seen leaping in season. The path also gives access to Forest Farm
and Glamorganshire Canal nature reserves.
From Coryton into Cardiff Central, there is a half-hourly
service at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour between 6.45am and 7.15pm,
then at 8.15pm, 9.15pm and 10.45pm.
Trains from Cardiff Central to Coryton are half-hourly at 21 and 51
minutes past the hour between 6.21am and 6.51pm; then at 7.51pm, 8.51pm and
10.21pm.
There is no service on Sundays.
Special fares and/or timetables will apply to all Valley Line services on event days at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
Places of interest
From Queen Street station trains share the same track as those on the Rhymney branch. The
track threads through the northern suburb of Roath until, just beyond Cathays Cemetery
(once served by a halt with a specially sloped platform to facilitate the transfer of
coffins from trains into the burial ground) the Coryton branch diverges left from the main
line. The first station is
Heath Low Level
(to distinguish it from the High Level station a short distance away on the Rhymney branch) which like most of the stations on the branch
serves mainly residential areas. However, the northern edge of Roath Park - the largest Park in
Cardiff - is not too far away.
Ty Glas is the newest station on the branch and was opened in 1987 as part of the
joint rail strategy. It serves a number of light-industrial units as well as offices and a
bakery.
From Ty Glas, the track is unusual in that it runs in a straight line almost to Coryton,
2½ kilometres away, and the remaining stations on the branch are within sight of each
other.
Birchgrove serves industrial units being built on the site of the Royal
Ordnance factory as well as
Hill Snook Park. Caedelyn Park is south of
Rhiwbina
station, while
Whitchurch
is convenient for the nearby golf club.
Coryton
serves Coryton and the north of Whitchurch, with Whitchurch and Velindre Hospitals, and
the British Telecom training centre nearby. A little further afield, there is access to
the Glamorganshire Canal nature reserve.
The Coryton branch is the only section of the valleys network which provides an historical
link with present-day Cardiff Railway Company. It is the only surviving stretch of line
which was built by the original Cardiff Railway Company.
Opened in 1909, the route extended from Heath Junction to Treforest, joining the Taff
Vale's line via a 450-ft skew bridge over the river Taff to a point just south of Treforest station. This immediately put the CR in legal dispute with
the ever-litigatious TVR, so only one train ever ran over the northern section of the
line. Today, only a low embankment glimpsed among the trees near the children's playground
south of Treforest station and a pair of bridge abutments are the only reminders of the
CR's venture. Passenger services commenced in 1911 but only as far as Rhydfelin. The
section between here and Coryton was closed twenty years later in July 1931, though
development of Nantgarw Colliery in 1938 saw the reopening of part of the route for
mineral traffic.
In 1952 a new link to the colliery was built from just north of Taffs Well station on the
Pontypridd-Cardiff branch, and the Coryton-Nantgarw section was closed finally the
following year.
This page is an extract from the Valley Lines pages. To access the main
site select either the Taff Valleys and Cardiff section, the
Ebbw Vale (Western Valleys), Rhymney Valley, Cardiff and coast section, or the full version which combines the two.
Select this link to return to the Gazetteer of Stations or Route Sections page.
Copyright © 1996/7/8/9/2000/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12 by Deryck Lewis.
All rights reserved.
Page created July 14 1996; Redesigned March 29 1999; Updated January 14 2012
If you have any suggestions, comments, or glitches to report, please contact the author at
WalesRails
