Valley Lines
Region North Wales Mid Wales South Wales National Network Route Sections Gazetteer of Stations About Wales	Arriva Trains Wales services on the Rhymney Branch 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. Select one of these links to return to the Gazetteer of Stations or Route Sections page. Trevithick 1804-2004 February 21 2004 marked the 200th anniversary of the first steam train to run on rails. The historic journey began in Merthyr Tydfil, and throughout 2004, a series of commemorative events took place, which can be reviewed here. Search WalesRails .......... Message Board	Preserved: Standard gauge Narrow gauge WalesRails: The Grand Tour Official Websites What's New Back to Welcome page

From Rhymney, Monday to Saturday services to Cardiff operate at 6.14am, 6.33am, 7.02am, 7.24am, 7.44am and 8.30am, then hourly at 29 minutes past the hour between 09.29am and 5.29pm, and at 8.33pm and 9.33pm
On Sundays, there are two-hourly departures between 9.29am and 7.29pm.
From Cardiff Central, Monday to Saturday, there are trains at 6.16am, 6.46am, 7.16am and 8.01am to Bargoed, then hourly to Rhymney at 16 minutes past the hour between 8.16am and 4.16pm, then 5.01pm, 5.31pm, 5.46pm, 6.31pm, 7.31pm, 8.31pm, 9.31pm and 10.35pm.
On Sundays, there are two-hourly departures at 16 minutes past the hour between 10.16am and 8.16pm then at 9.16pm.

Special fares and/or timetables will apply to all Valley Line services on event days at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Stations on the branch

Stations on the branch (with journey times from Rhymney) are :
Pontlottyn (2 mins); Tir Phil (7); Brithdir (9); Bargoed (13); Gilfach Fargoed (16); Pengam (18); Hengoed (22); Ystrad Mynach (24); Llanbradach (30); Aber (35); Caerphilly (37); Lisvane and Thornhill (42); Llanishen (44); Heath High Level (46); and Cardiff Queen Street (50).

Places of interest

From Queen Street station the line heads north through the suburbs of Cathays and Roath. Shortly before
Heath High Level
is reached, trees at the northern edge of Roath Park can be seen, while the suburb of Cyncoed rises from the shallow valley beyond.
From Heath High Level, the train travels high above the village over Three Arches viaduct beyond which there are extensive views of north-western Cardiff and, ahead, Caerphilly mountain through which the track will later tunnel.
Passing under a rusticated arched bridge, the train enters
Llanishen station, serving a mainly residential area
then on through a high cutting to
Lisvane and Thornhill
Close by is Cefn On park - famed for its in-season displays of rhododendron and azaleas - and Lisvane Tennis Club.
Soon, the train enters Caerphilly Tunnel, at just over a mile in length, the longest of the two tunnels on the Valley network (the other is at Cogan).
Emerging from the tunnel, the train track curves west to enter Caerphilly station.
Caerphilly...
...is famed throughout the world for its cheese and the imposing castle (pictured left) which dominates the northern part of the town. The castle is second only to Windsor as the largest in Europe. Started in the latter half of the 13th century, it is one of the best examples of the concentric castle style introduced to Britain by the returning Crusaders. Its inner and outer wards were further fortified by a moat and earthwork defences on an island in the lake which protects its western flank. Its most famous feature, the Leaning Tower - 80 ft high and 13 ft from the vertical - is believed to result from a gunpowder assault during the Civil War, though to which army the 'credit' should be given is uncertain.
Opposite the castle, is the new shopping precinct.
The station is part of the interchange which links the surrounding area to the railway from the bus station. Cheese-making has recently return to the town after an absence of several decades.
From Caerphilly the track again heads northward first to
Aber
where a side valley leads to Senghenydd, the scene of the British coalfield's greatest disaster in 1913 when 439 men and boys were killed in an underground explosion at the Universal Colliery - and then to
Llanbradach.
Beyond here, the route is almost rural with the occasional conurbation superimposed on the route.
Ystrad Mynach
is the largest of these, the approach to the station heralded (on the left) by Ystrad Mynach signal box, unusual in the complex system of levers and pivots which transfers the signaller's actions down the embankment on which the box is perched, to the infrastructure at the bottom. A few miles to the west is Llancaiach Fawr, a reputedly-haunted manor house where visitors are greeted and entertained in the style of the English Civil War period.
Hengoed
station is overshadowed by Maesycymmer viaduct which spans the valley, while the ambiguous rural/urban character of the valley is exemplified at
Pengam
which has a farm on one side of the station, and houses and factories on the other.
Gilfach Fargoed
is the Valley Lines equivalent of Budapest, and serves the communities of Gilfach (to the west) and Bargoed to the north.
Bargoed
was once an important junction for the long-closed branches from the surrounding valleys, but is now the end of the double-track line from Cardiff. Until last year, only one platform was in use, but the former Up platform has been brought back on line. The station is somewhat inconveniently located for the main residential focus of the town, so there also are plans to build another station further south, in which case, Gilfach Fargoed would close.
From Bargoed the line passes over a high masonry viaduct before becoming single-track for the rest of the journey to Rhymney.
Brithdir
is the first stop on the single-line section near which is the George Inn, the name the station bore until 1892.
Tir Phil
also serves New Tredegar - and the Elliott Colliery Engine House tourist attraction - on the opposite side of the valley.
Pontlottyn
With its colliery long-closed (though its site is commemorated by two of the sheaves (winding wheels) embedded in a concrete plinth) until a few years ago, Pontlottyn's claim to fame was the Railway Inn, which nestled in the arches of the viaduct just north of the station (left).
This curiosity resulted from the strict temperance of the former landowner, who refused any drinking establishment on his property. The directors of the Rhymney Railway, however, had no such qualms, and allowed the inn to be built in its relatively restricted position. Closed for many years, the pub consisted of three bars linked by a long corridor but has been demolished, despite a vigorous local campaign to retain it.
Rhymney
is the terminus of the line, and consists of a station and sidings where trains are stabled overnight. About a mile to the north, Butetown, a former iron-workers village consisting basically of parallel terraced cottages, has been restored. A conservation area, it incorporates a church, post office and public house, but the cottages themselves are privately owned and have no public access.

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.

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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
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