Misplaced Pages

v t e Railway lines in the Welsh valleys
Legend
Hirwaun Treherbert Rhymney Ynyswen Ebbw Vale Town Aberdare Merthyr Tydfil Treorchy Pontlottyn Cwmbach Ebbw Vale Parkway Ton Pentre Pentre-bach Ystrad Rhondda Tir-Phil Fernhill Troed-y-rhiw Llwynypia Cwm Mountain Ash Merthyr Vale Tonypandy Brithdir Dinas Rhondda Bargoed Penrhiwceiber Abertillery Porth Quakers Yard Trehafod Llanhilleth Abercynon North Gilfach Fargoed Abercynon Pengam Pontypridd Hengoed Treforest Newbridge Treforest Estate Ystrad Mynach Taffs Well Llanbradach Coryton Energlyn & Churchill Park Whitchurch Crosskeys Rhiwbina Aber Radyr Caerphilly Birchgrove Risca & Pontymister Ty Glas Lisvane & Thornhill Llandaf Llanishen Cathays Heath Low / High Level Danescourt Rogerstone Cardiff Queen Street Pye Corner Fairwater Newport Waun-Gron Park Welsh Marches line Cardiff Bay Cardiff Central Severn Tunnel Junction River Taff South Wales Main Line to Bristol Parkway Grangetown Caldicot Ninian Park Chepstow Dingle Road Cogan Penarth Eastbrook Wales England border Dinas Powys Lydney Cadoxton Gloucester Barry Docks Cheltenham Spa Pontyclun Barry Llanharan Barry Island Pencoed Rhoose Cardiff International Airport Llantwit Major Bridgend South Wales Main Line to Swansea Wildmill Sarn Tondu Garth Maesteg (Ewenny Road) Maesteg

This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: It needs more explanation of the South Wales Metro. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (June 2022)

Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes (Welsh: Llwybrau Lleol y Cymoedd a Chaerdydd) (formerly Valley Lines) is the network of passenger suburban railway services radiating from Cardiff, Wales. It includes lines within the city itself, the Vale of Glamorgan and the South Wales Valleys.

The services are currently operated by Transport for Wales Rail. In total, it serves 81 stations in six unitary authority areas: 20 in the city of Cardiff, 11 in the Vale of Glamorgan, 25 in Rhondda Cynon Taf, 16 in Caerphilly, 8 in Bridgend and 5 in Merthyr Tydfil.

Services on these routes are currently provided by a transitional fleet of Class 150 DMUs, Class 231 Diesel–electric multiple units and Class 756 tri-mode multiple units. They are typically end-to-end, in that they run from one branch terminus, through Cardiff Queen Street station, to another branch terminus, e.g. from Pontypridd to Barry Island.

The major hubs of the network are Cardiff Queen Street and Cardiff Central. Other hubs are Pontypridd, Bridgend and Barry.

History

A stretch of the Vale of Glamorgan Line, on which passenger services were closed under the Beeching Axe, re-opened for passenger service, with services from Cardiff Central to Bridgend, via Barry, Rhoose Cardiff Intl. Airport and Llantwit Major. These services were originally advertised to start in April 2005, but commenced on 12 June 2005. Previously services only went as far as Barry.

On 28 March 2020, ownership of the lines between Cardiff and Treherbert, Aberdare, Merthyr Tydfil, Coryton, Rhymney and Cwmbargoed (the "Core Valley Lines") was transferred from Network Rail to Transport for Wales, who leased them to operator AKIL.

Electrification

On 16 July 2012 the UK Government announced plans to extend the electrification of the network at a cost of £350 million. This was at the same time of the announcement of electrification of the South Wales Main Line from Cardiff to Swansea. This would also see investment in new trains and continued improvements to stations.

The investment will require new trains and should result in reduced journey times and cheaper maintenance of the network. Work was expected to start between 2014 and 2019, but has since been pushed back to between 2019 and 2024.

Lines

The colours used below are from the official network map (see External links). Stations in bold are major interchanges for the network.

Routes

Generally trains run from one line to another, joining at Cardiff Central eliminating the need for changing trains there. However they may not run for the whole length of the line.

Before the June 2024 train timetable changes, Services had run between:

• Bridgend/Barry Island and Merthyr Tydfil/Aberdare - incorporating the Vale of Glamorgan and Merthyr/Aberdare Lines
• Penarth and Rhymney/Bargoed - incorporating the Vale of Glamorgan and Rhymney Lines
• Radyr and Coryton - incorporating the City and Coryton Lines
• Cardiff Central and Treherbert - incorporating the Rhondda Line only
• Cardiff Queen Street and Cardiff Bay - incorporating the Butetown Branch Line only

After the June 2024 train timetable changes, Services now run between:

• Bridgend/Barry Island and Rhymney/Bargoed - incorporating the Vale of Glamorgan and Rhymney Lines
• Penarth and Coryton/Caerphilly - incorporating the Vale of Glamorgan and Rhymney/Coryton Lines
• Cardiff Central and Merthyr Tydfil/Aberdare - incorporating the City and Merthyr/Aberdare Lines (trains from Aberdare to Cardiff now travel after Radyr via the City Line, and after Cardiff Central then go on to Cardiff Queen St and proceed to Merthyr Tydfil; trains from Merthyr Tydfil continue on to Aberdare after Cardiff Central)
• Cardiff Central and Treherbert - incorporating the Rhondda Line only
• Cardiff Queen Street/Pontypridd and Cardiff Bay - incorporating the Butetown Branch Line only

Surrounding lines

The following lines also serve Cardiff and the South Wales Valleys but are not considered part of the network by Transport for Wales and use more "mainline" rolling stock (currently Class 197 units).

See also

• South East Wales Metro
• Rail transport in Cardiff
• List of Valley Lines stations
• List of railway stations in Wales

References

1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. ^ "Showcontent". Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
3. Cardiff Central and Queen Street are where all services pass through, and Cardiff Central is the main interchange to the national network. Pontypridd and Barry are the two stations with the largest passenger numbers outside of Cardiff and they are only served by this network. See respective Misplaced Pages pages.
4. "Vale of Glamorgen". Railfuture.
5. "Airport rail link 'open in 2005'". BBC News. 4 May 2004. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
6. "Core Valley Lines Infrastructure Manager". Transport for Wales. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
7. "Rail electrification to Swansea and south Wales valleys welcomed". BBC News Wales. 16 July 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
8. "Cardiff And Valleys Station Upgrades". Network Rail. 16 May 2018. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
9. "Search & Buy Train Tickets with Arriva Trains Wales for travel in Wales and UK".
10. ^ "South Wales Metro June 2024 timetable change | Transport for Wales". tfw.wales. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
11. "Brand new trains on the Maesteg Line". 19 February 2024.
12. Pritchard, Robert (June 2024). "Ebbw Vale launch for 197s". Rolling Stock News. Today's Railways UK. No. 268. p. 61.

External links

• Route map – Transport for Wales
• Arriva Trains Wales
• Descriptions of the Valley Lines – Deryck Lewis, archived in 2005
• South Wales Metro - June 2024 timetable change - Transport For Wales

v t e Local rail transport in the United Kingdom
Metros	Docklands Light Railway (London) Glasgow Subway London Underground Night Tube Tyne and Wear Metro
Tramways	Blackpool Edinburgh Greater Manchester Nottingham South Yorkshire South London West Midlands
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v t e Railway stations in Cardiff, Newport and the Valleys
Valley lines	Butetown    Cardiff City    Coryton    Ebbw Valley    Maesteg    Merthyr    Rhondda    Rhymney    Vale of Glamorgan
Other lines	South Wales Main Line Gloucester–Newport line Welsh Marches line South Wales Metro
Major stations	Cardiff Central Cardiff Queen Street Newport Bridgend
Cardiff stations	Rail transport in Cardiff Birchgrove Cardiff Bay Cathays Coryton Danescourt Fairwater Grangetown Heath High Level Heath Low Level Lisvane & Thornhill Llandaf Llanishen Ninian Park Radyr Rhiwbina Ty Glas Waun-gron Park Whitchurch
Newport stations	Newport Pye Corner Rogerstone
Valley Lines stations	Aber Abercynon Aberdare Bargoed Barry Barry Docks Barry Island Brithdir Cadoxton Caerphilly Cogan Crosskeys Cwmbach Dinas Powys Dinas Rhondda Dingle Road Eastbrook Ebbw Vale Parkway Ebbw Vale Town Energlyn & Churchill Park Fernhill Garth Gilfach Fargoed Hengoed Llanbradach Llanharan Llanhilleth Llantwit Major Llwynypia Maesteg Maesteg (Ewenny Road) Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Vale Mountain Ash Newbridge Penarth Pencoed Pengam Penrhiwceiber Pentre-bach Pontlottyn Pontyclun Pontypridd Porth Quakers Yard Rhoose Cardiff International Airport Rhymney Risca & Pontymister Sarn Taffs Well Tir-Phil Tondu Ton Pentre Tonypandy Treforest Treforest Estate Trehafod Treherbert Treorchy Troed-y-rhiw Wildmill Ynyswen Ystrad Mynach Ystrad Rhondda
Other stations	Abergavenny Caldicot Chepstow Cwmbran Pontypool & New Inn Severn Tunnel Junction
Proposed stations	Aberbeeg Abertillery Cardiff Parkway Caerleon Crumlin Low Level Cwm Hirwaun Llanwern Newport West St Fagans
Transport in Bridgend County Borough Transport in Caerphilly County Borough Transport in Cardiff Transport in Newport Transport in Rhondda Cynon Taf Transport in the Vale of Glamorgan UK railway stations: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Trains portal Wales portal

• Railway lines in Wales
• Standard gauge railways in Wales
• Rail transport in Cardiff