 |
|
 |
Valley Lines |
||
Region |
Arriva
Trains Wales services on the 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, Ebbw Vale, Cardiff and coast section, or the full version which combines the two.
Trevithick 1804-2004 Search WalesRails .......... Message Board |
Preserved: WalesRails: Back to Welcome page |
Known as the Taff corridor, the route remains close to the River Taff for most of its
length. At Pontypridd - which has one of the longest platforms in the United Kingdom - the
route diverges to serve the Treherbert and the Aberdare/ Merthyr Tydfil branches.
In the heyday of coal traffic, this was one of
the busiest junctions on the network where trains funnelled
through the station at three-minute intervals. Always a bottle-neck on the system,
congestion has been eased by the provision of a new Up platform, and a resignalling scheme
which was officially inaugurated on March 18th 1998.
1999 saw the completion of a complete upgrade of the station and infrastructure.
Please note. The period of validity of the National Network timetables has
changed.
Any times and travel details given apply only for the currency of the
timetable valid until May 17 2008.
Mondays to Saturdays, there are five/six trains an hour at roughly 10-minute intervals,
two of which travel to/from Treherbert, two to/from Aberdare and one to/from Merthyr
Tydfil.
On Sundays, trains from Pontypridd run two-hourly to Cardiff at 48 minutes past the hour
from Treherbert between 8.48am and 8.48pm; 24 minutes past the hour from
Aberdare at 10.24 then two-hourly between 11.24am and 9.24pm; and 9 minutes past the hour from Merthyr
Tydfil between 10.09pm and 10.09pm.
From Pontypridd, two-hourly Sunday trains to Treherbert leave at
36 minutes
past the hour between 9.36am and 10.36pm; to Aberdare at 9.11am, then at
11 minutes past the hour two-hourly between 10.11am and 8.11pm; and to Merthyr Tydfil
at 58 minutes past the hour between 8.58am and 8.58pm.
Special fares and/or timetables will apply to all Valley Line services on event days at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
Places of Interest
Pontypridd
(called Newbridge until the 1860s) has a unique place in the industrial, cultural and
religious heritage of South Wales, all brought together in the Cultural and Historical
Centre housed, fittingly perhaps, in a converted chapel. The centre stands at one end of
the single-span bridge erected at the fourth attempt by William Edwards in 1746; the 'new
bridge' which gave the town its old name. In present-day Pontypridd, markets are held on
Wednesdays and Saturdays. In the terraces behind the station is Laura Street, birthplace
of Tom Jones, the 'sixties rock idol whose career shows no sign of flagging. Ynysangharad
Park offers swimming and paddling pools, tennis cricket, bowls and a putting green.
National pride, too, is exemplified here with a memorial to father and son Evan and John
James, the composers of Yr Hen Wlad Fy Nhaddau (Land of my Fathers), the Welsh National
Anthem.
Above the park, on the common, is the rocking stone and druidic circle, a reminder of the
1926 eisteddfod. There is another druidic connection in Glyntaff Road where the 'round
houses' once guarded the home of nineteenth century mystic Dr William Price who
scandalised the neighbourhood by holding satanic rituals on the common. Even this paled in
comparison to the outcry when he burnt the remains of his son, named Iesu Grist (the Welsh
form of Jesus Christ), who died in infancy. The Doctor's subsequent trial paved the
way to the legalisation of cremation as a means of disposing of human remains.
It is only by coincidence that
Treforest
is the location of Glyntaf Crematorium, close to which is the Pontypridd College of Art,
Design and Technology. Outside the station, the former school of mining has now evolved
into the University of Glamorgan. From the train, on the left-hand side, the embankment
built by the Cardiff Railway, which became the subject of bitter controversy with the Taff
Vale Railway, can be seen just beyond the children's playground. It was used by only one
train.
Treforest Estate
serves an industrial complex opened in 1936, the first such estate in Wales built to
counter the effects of the Great Depression.
The name Taffs Well
provides a clue to the town's almost-forgotten eminence as a mid-Victorian spa, though the
well itself still exists in the park which is a little over half-a-mile north of the
station. In the opposite direction, in the village of Tongwynlais, is Castell Coch (the
Red Castle) built on the ruin of a thirteenth century castle and modelled on a Rhineland
chateau as a summer retreat and hunting lodge for the Marquis of Bute, whose town 'house'
was at Cardiff Castle. The architect was William Burges, whose work includes Cardiff
Castle itself, the library of Hartford University in Connecticut, and stained glass
windows at Cork Cathedral in Ireland. The grounds of the Castle have free access and a
number of pleasant walks, but care should be exercised to the west where a quarry
with a sheer drop awaits the unwary.
Radyr
was an important marshalling yard on the valleys network, in the heyday of the coal
traffic era. Today, the yard is closed and housing development is taking place on the
land, and it serves only as a connecting point for passenger trains on City Line. The station has been shortened, with a third platform
face introduced as part of resignalling on the City Line, and the route to Queen Street
via Llandaff.
The village cricket pitch is just outside the station, and there are pleasant walks along
the River Taff to Radyr Weir (pictured right) where salmon may be seen leaping in season.
The path also gives access to the Forest Farm and Glamorganshire Canal nature reserves.
Llandaf
station is more conveniently located for the village of Whitchurch, rather than for
Llandaf Cathedral as may be presumed. Nevertheless, the Cathedral can be reached, either
by bus or on foot. Along the way, rowers from Llandaf Rowing Club often add a touch of
colour when glimpsed from the bridge over the Taff, or from the riverside pathway.
Cathays
is convenient for the northern end of Cathays Park, which includes the Welsh
Office, the Temple of Peace, and the College of Music and Drama, behind which is
Coopers Field and Bute Park. Outside the station is the University College and
the Sherman Theatre. Just before the station is reached, the site of Cathays
Carriage and Wagon Works is seen on the left. The oldest such works in
existence, it was much slimmed down before its final closure.
Cardiff Queen Street
is the station which serves the eastern end of the city centre, giving access to the
shopping thoroughfare of Queen Street, and the Capital Shopping Mall. It is also the
interchange for trains serving the Rhymney Valley and Cardiff Bay.
Cardiff Central
is Cardiff's main railway station, which links to the national network, with trains
operated by Central Trains, Great Western Trains
and the Virgin Trains company
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 by Deryck Lewis.
All rights reserved.
Page created July 14 1996; Redesigned March 29 1999; Updated February 6 2008
If you have any suggestions, comments, or glitches to report, please contact the author at
WalesRails
