Merthyr Tydfil railway station

Merthyr Tydfil railway station is a railway station serving the town of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. It is the terminus of the Merthyr branch of the Merthyr Line. Passenger services are provided by Transport for Wales. The station has one platform, and is situated near to the Tesco Superstore in the town.

Merthyr Tydfil
Welsh: Merthyr Tudful
Merthyr Tydfil railway station in 2014
Location
PlaceMerthyr Tydfil
Local authorityMerthyr Tydfil
Coordinates51.7444°N 3.3773°W / 51.7444; -3.3773
Grid referenceSO050059
Operations
Station codeMER
Managed byTransport for Wales
Number of platforms1
DfT categoryE
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 0.563 million
2015/16 0.581 million
2016/17 0.550 million
2017/18 0.512 million
2018/19 0.500 million
History
Key datesOpened 2 November 1853 (2 November 1853)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Merthyr Tydfil from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

The station has a small car park, ticket office, passenger display panels and a taxi rank. Passengers wishing to use buses to other destinations have to walk through the town to the main bus station.

Since the Spring 2009 Timetable change on Monday 18 May, trains are able to arrive/depart from the station every half hour after the commissioning of a passing loop near Merthyr Vale.[1]

History
Merthyr Tydfil station in January 1968 before its first relocation

The first station in Merthyr was opened by the Taff Vale Railway on 21 April 1841 in Plymouth Street. This was the second stage of the building of the main line from Navigation House (later Abercynon). The station was closed on 1 August 1877 when all Taff Vale passenger traffic was diverted to the Great Western Railway station at Merthyr High Street.

In 1853, Merthyr High Street railway station opened as the terminus of the Vale of Neath Railway on the site. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the two platform station encompassed 7 ft (2,134 mm) broad gauge lines, and was enclosed by an overall roof. The Vale of Neath also encompassed the Swansea and Neath Railway, enabling trains to run to Swansea docks, and after amalgamation with the Great Western Railway on 1 February 1865, also ran through trains to London Paddington.

Although other railways which ran into Merthyr had their own stations, after a third rail was added to the whole of the Vale of Neath system in 1863, the mixed gauge allowed them all to consolidate their services at Merthyr High Street:

The station in 1986.

After the whole of the Great Western system was converted to standard gauge on 11 May 1872, a thin central platform was later added to the station, adding two additional platforms.

After the end of steam trains, and the closure of all but the Taff Vale lines into the station between 1951 and 1964, the passenger facilities were rebuilt by British Rail on the southwest corner of the original site in 1974 as a single island providing two platforms. A further rebuild in 1996 saw it reduced to its present single platform configuration, with a Tesco superstore and other retail outlets now occupying the rest of the old station site.[3][4]

Services

As mentioned above, the station now has a half-hourly service to and from Cardiff Central on weekdays and Saturdays. Trains continue onwards to Barry and then alternately to either Barry Island or Bridgend via the Vale of Glamorgan Line.[5] On Sundays there is a two-hourly service from Barry Island and to Bridgend via the Vale of Glamorgan Line.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Pentre-bach   Transport for Wales
Merthyr Line
   Terminus
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References
  1. Wales Online news article
  2. Hodge, John (2014). Six Railways to Merthyr. Welsh Railways Research Circle. pp. 80–83. ISBN 978-09527267-7-7.
  3. Barrie, D.S.M. (1980). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, vol. 12: South Wales. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7970-4.
  4. Hutton, John (2006). The Taff Vale Railway, vol. 1. Silver Link. ISBN 978-1-85794-249-1.
  5. GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 130 (Network Rail)
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