Abercynon railway station

Abercynon railway station is the railway station serving the village of Abercynon in the Cynon Valley, Wales. It is located on the Merthyr Line, 15.5 miles (25 km) north of Cardiff Central. Passenger services are provided by Transport for Wales.

Abercynon
Arriva Trains Wales Class 150 Sprinter at the station in May 2016
Location
PlaceAbercynon
Local authorityRhondda Cynon Taf
Coordinates51.645°N 3.327°W / 51.645; -3.327
Grid referenceST082948
Operations
Station codeACY
Managed byTransport for Wales
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryF1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 0.265 million
– Interchange  40,847
2015/16 0.275 million
– Interchange  41,720
2016/17 0.294 million
– Interchange  42,087
2017/18 0.298 million
– Interchange  36,440
2018/19 0.289 million
– Interchange  33,607
History
9 October 1840Station opens as Navigation House
6 August 1846Renamed Aberdare Junction
1 December 1896Renamed Abercynon
3 October 1988Renamed Abercynon South upon opening of Abercynon North
2008Renamed Abercynon upon merger with Abercynon North
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Abercynon from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

History
Ex-Taff Vale 0-6-2T in 1946

It was first opened on this site as "Navigation Road" in 1840 and was then renamed "Aberdare Junction" by the Taff Vale Railway in 1846 then further renamed "Abercynon" in 1896 and to "Abercynon South" in 1988. The original station buildings, including the Great Western Railway signal box of 1932 (which originally came from Birmingham Moor Street station)[1] have been demolished, with the signal box being demolished near the end of 2013.

In November 2007, a proposal was submitted by the Welsh Assembly Government to discontinue all services provided at Abercynon North. From a date "no sooner than 1st May 2008" as the notice ran, all services were to be transferred to Abercynon South, which would be rebuilt (with the reinstatement of the disused "up" side of the island platform) to accommodate all services serving both stations.[2]

Abercynon Railway Station before the merger with Abercynon North and the subsequent rebuilding of the station

Following the merger of Abercynon North and South, the latter station's name reverted to simply "Abercynon".

On 14 December 2010, a free Park and Ride car park opened on the site of the station yard, with capacity for 160 cars. This is hoped to improve commuter travel to Cardiff and other areas on the Valley Lines network. This was funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and the European Regional Development Fund.[3]

On 26 and 27 April 2012, the British Royal Train visited the station as part of the tour of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.[4] The train had to stop at Abercynon due to the tight curves on the line, with the Royals continuing their journey by road.

In October 2013 the Signal Box (out of use since the aforementioned 2008 remodelling & resignalling[5]) was removed and a new Ticket Vending Machine was installed on the station to enable travellers to purchase tickets before boarding a train as well printing tickets for pre-booked journeys. The layout is currently controlled from an interim signalling centre next to the 'up' (Cardiff-bound) platform. This was due to hand over control to the Cardiff Rail Operating Centre in 2014 as part of the wider modernisation of the area ahead of electrification of the Valley Lines network, but still appears to be under control.

On 21 February 2015, a blue plaque was unveiled at the station entrance to mark the location of trade unionist John Ewington's workplace. His claim against his employer, the Taff Vale Railway Company for unfair treatment led to the famous Taff Vale Case which was fundamental in the creation of the Labour Party.[6]

In February 2016 work started at the station to improve the facilities ahead of the South Wales Metro system. Work included the installation of an extra shelter and a bike shelter where the old signal box stood.[7] Transport for Wales replaced an existing shelter with a larger one including TFW branding in Spring 2019.

In December 2017 Rhondda Cynon Taff funded the expansion of the car park to increase the number of spaces for users. There are future plans to further increase the number of spaces which is a reflection of the popularity of the site for commuters.[8] In April 2019, Rhondda Cynon Taf council opened a further extension to the car park. An extra 310 spaces have been built in the nearby Navigation Park to cater for future increase in demand. Other work included adapting the footpath to the station and adding a bus stop in the existing car park. The project was funded by the Welsh Government.[9]

In October 2018, it was announced that the South Wales Metro would receive £119 million from the European Union. Some of this money is earmarked for doubling the line from Abercynon and Aberdare and from Abercynon to Merthyr Tydfil. Extra platforms would also be built to handle the extra services.[10]

Service

During a typical off-peak service, Abercynon is served by four southbound trains per hour, with all trains stopping at Cardiff Central. 2-3 of those trains then continue to Barry Island and an hourly service operates to Bridgend via The Vale of Glamorgan Line. 3 trains per day off-peak are also scheduled to terminate at Cardiff Central rather than continuing south.[11]

Northbound services operate twice hourly to Merthyr Tydfil and twice hourly to Aberdare Monday to Saturday.

On Sundays, southbound services generally operate every two hours to Barry Island and Bridgend via The Vale of Glamorgan Line, and northbound service operate every two hours to Merthyr Tydfil and every two hours to Aberdare. From April 2018, Arriva Trains Wales increased morning and late afternoon services between Aberdare and Cardiff. This has given an hourly service between Aberdare and Cardiff in the morning and late afternoon.[12]

Major stations on the network are Pontypridd, Cardiff Queen Street, Cardiff Central, Bridgend and Barry.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Pontypridd   Transport for Wales
Merthyr Line
   Quakers Yard
  Transport for Wales
Aberdare Branch
   Penrhiwceiber
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gollark: Factorio tip: grenades are a great way to clear trees if you don't have access to nuclear weaponry.
gollark: Not very "at last" since it's still technically in alpha, but loads of mods are on 0.17 now somehow.
gollark: Oh cool, Induction Charging is out for Factorio 0.17 at last!
gollark: ... please no

References
  1. Hutton, John (2006). The Taff Vale Railway, vol. 1. Silver Link. ISBN 978-1-85794-249-1.
  2. "New Abercynon Station Project" (PDF). Welsh Assembly. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 January 2008. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
  3. http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/en/news/archive/2010/12/abercynonparkrideschemeopens.aspx. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. http://ourbobby.com/EN/News/Details.aspx?n1=1&n2=11&n3=43&n4=43&id=12&nid=21585. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. "Signalling at Abercynon". Adrian The rock. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  6. "Blue plaque honour for trade unionist John Ewington". BBC News South East Wales. 21 February 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  7. "Abercynon station". The Welsh Government. 28 July 2016. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016.
  8. "Additional parking spaces delivered at Abercynon Railway Station". 7 December 2017. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  9. "New 310-space Park & Ride serving Abercynon Railway Station to open". www.rctcbc.gov.uk. 31 March 2019.
  10. "South Wales Metro gets £119m investment". BBC News. 4 October 2018.
  11. Transport For Wales (December 2019). "Timetable 5 - Valleys, Cardiff Local Routes & Ebbw Valley" (PDF).
  12. "Extra Sunday Aberdare services confirmed after successful pilot". 19 April 2018. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
  • Abercynon station on navigable O.S. map
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