Pontyclun railway station

Pontyclun railway station is an unstaffed, minor railway station in Pontyclun, in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. The station is at street level, on Station Approach, Pontyclun. It is a stop on the South Wales Main Line, served by trains on the Maesteg Line, and occasionally by the Swanline Cardiff to Swansea regional services, as well as one early-morning daily service to Manchester and a late-night daily service to Carmarthen. The station and all trains are operated by Transport for Wales Rail. It is 181 miles 40 chains (292.1 km) from the zero point at London Paddington, measured via Stroud.[1]

Pontyclun

Welsh: Pont-y-clun
National Rail
Pontyclun Railway Station, June 2014
General information
LocationPontyclun, Rhondda Cynon Taf
Wales
Coordinates51.5239°N 3.3921°W / 51.5239; -3.3921
Grid referenceST035815
Managed byTransport for Wales Rail
Platforms2
Other information
Station codePYC
ClassificationDfT category F2
History
Original companySouth Wales Railway / Cowbridge Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Western Railway / Taff Vale Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Key dates
18 June 1850SWR station opened as Llantrissant for Cowbridge
18 September 1865Cowbridge Rly station opened as Llantrissant
c. 1866GWR (ex-SWR) station renamed Llantrissant
by 1902both stations renamed Llantrisant
21 September 1925Stations amalgamated
2 November 1964Closed
28 September 1992Reopened as Pontyclun
Passengers
2017/18Increase 0.306 million
2018/19Decrease 0.299 million
2019/20Decrease 0.289 million
2020/21Decrease 41,636
2021/22Increase 0.155 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station was rebuilt and reopened under British Rail as Pontyclun on 28 September 1992.[2] It was previously called Llantrisant station and was originally two separate railway stations that were merged in 1925, those originally belonging to the South Wales Railway and the Cowbridge Railway,[3] whose successors, the Great Western Railway and the Taff Vale Railway respectively, had amalgamated in 1922.

History
A 1903 Railway Clearing House junction diagram showing (left) railways in the vicinity of Pontyclun (shown here as Llantrisant). GWR in yellow; TVR in green.

The first section of the South Wales Railway (SWR), that between Chepstow and Swansea, opened on 18 June 1850.[4] The original stations on that line included one named Llantrissant for Cowbridge.[3]

The station became a junction with the opening of the first section of the Ely Valley Railway (EVR) to Tonyrefail on 2 August 1860,[5] although passenger services along that line did not begin until 1 August 1865.[6] The EVR opened a branch to Brofiskin Colliery in 1862,[7] and another railway, the Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway, which opened in December 1863,[8] intended to use part of that branch to gain access to Llantrisant via a connection at Maesaraul Junction, but in order to do this, the Brofiskin branch had to be altered to mixed gauge – this occurred in December 1864.[9]

The former Llantrisant station in 1962

The station name was simplified to Llantrissant c. 1866,[3] by which time the SWR had amalgamated with the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1863.[10] Adjacent to this station was the terminus of the Cowbridge Railway, which opened on 18 September 1865, originally being named Llantrissant.[3] The Cowbridge Railway was leased by the Taff Vale Railway (TVR) in 1876, and absorbed by that concern in 1889.[11] Both the GWR and TVR stations had their names amended to Llantrisant by 1902.[3] The TVR in its turn amalgamated with the GWR on 1 January 1922, and on 21 September 1925 their respective stations were merged as a single station.[3]

Llantrisant was a major intermediate station on the South Wales Main Line. It consisted of two central through platforms and bays for the Ely Valley line, the Llantrisant & Taff Vale Junction line and the branch to Cowbridge and Aberthaw.[12] The station was closed on 2 November 1964.[3] Under the auspices of Regional Railways sector of British Rail and Mid Glamorgan the station was reopened. The station was rebuilt and reopened as Pontyclun on 28 September 1992.[2]

Extensive sidings existed around the station for the coal and mineral traffic generated by the mines in the area. At least the line to Cwm Colliery was in regular use until 1984.

Cwm Colliery branch line

A single track railway runs north from Pontyclun station - the remnants of the Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway. The track turns east at Talbot Green to run roughly parallel to the Afon Clun, alongside the north of the A473, which runs between Pontypridd and Bridgend. At Cross Inn the track turns north east, running south of Llantrisant and north of Caerau Hillfort, an Iron Age enclosure. Originally, it ran to the Cwm Coking Works at Tynant, Beddau, just past the former station Llantwit Fardre, although the track has been totally dismantled and the trackbed is now a cycle path that currently terminates at Westfield Crescent, Cross Inn. None of the original railway paraphernalia remains intact between Talbot Green and Pontyclun, apart from a footbridge with cages above the former track (to prevent people throwing things (or themselves) onto the trains, tracks or coal wagons) that crosses the A473 where it meets the A4222 near Leekes. The track remains embedded in the road where it crosses the A473, and warning lights were at the roadside and road signs warned drivers to stop if they saw warning lights flash at the level crossing but these were removed during construction of the cycle path. A consultative study in 2006 (Sewta Rail Strategy Study) considered the possibility of reopening the Pontyclun to Beddau branch line, as a passenger line rather than just for freight. This would require new stations at Talbot Green, Llantrisant, Gwaun Meisgyn and Beddau (Tynant).[13]

Llantrisant locomotive depot
Main article: Llantrisant locomotive depot

A locomotive depot, known as Llantrisant, was situated between the station and Mwyndy Junction, on the eastern side of the curve. It housed around 20 locomotives, and closed in October 1964.[14]

Facilities

Pontyclun station is unstaffed. It has neither ticket gates nor barriers. The station has no ticket office. passengers can purchase tickets from the station platform self-service ticket machine, on board trains or at their destination. Both platforms have shelters. The station car park is free-of-charge to rail users.

Platform layout

The station has 2 platforms:

  • Platform 1, for westbound trains towards Maesteg;
  • Platform 2, for eastbound trains towards Cardiff.

Services

Mondays to Saturdays there is an hourly service eastbound to Cardiff Central, with most continuing to Newport, Chepstow, Lydney, Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa, as well as an early-morning service to Manchester via Cardiff, Newport and the Welsh Marches Line via Hereford, Shrewsbury and Crewe.[15] Westbound, services continue to Bridgend and Maesteg. These services are operated mainly by Class 170 Turbostar units.

On Sundays the service decreases slightly. There is roughly a 2-hourly service to Maesteg however there are also four services a day to Manchester Piccadilly via Hereford and Shrewsbury, the latter of which is usually operated by either Class 158 Express Sprinter or Class 175 Coradia units.

A few early morning and late evening services take the spur to Ninian Park to continue onto Cardiff Central alongside Canton sidings, to retain route knowledge.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Cardiff Central   Transport for Wales
Maesteg Line		   Llanharan
Ninian Park
limited service		    
Cardiff Central   Transport for Wales
South Wales Main Line		   Pencoed
Disused railways
Terminus   Great Western Railway
Ely Valley Railway		   Coed Ely
Line and station closed
Terminus   Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway
Pontypridd-Llantrisant		   Cross Inn
Line and station closed
Terminus   Taff Vale Railway
Llantrisant-Aberthaw		   Llanharry
Line and station closed
  Historical railways  
Peterston
Line open, station closed		   Great Western Railway
South Wales Main Line		   Llanharan
Line and station open

References
  1. Padgett, David (June 2018) [1989]. Munsey, Myles (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 3: Western & Wales (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. map 22A. ISBN 978-1-9996271-0-2.
  2. Butt 1995, p. 188
  3. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 147. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  4. MacDermot, E. T. (1927). History of the Great Western Railway, vol. I: 1833-1863. Paddington: Great Western Railway. pp. 303, 563, 865.
  5. MacDermot 1927, p. 861
  6. MacDermot, E.T. (1931). History of the Great Western Railway, vol. II: 1863-1921. Paddington: Great Western Railway. pp. 82–83, 616. OCLC 55853736.
  7. MacDermot 1927, p. 862
  8. Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing. p. 32. CN 8983.
  9. MacDermot 1931, p. 596
  10. MacDermot 1927, p. 586
  11. Awdry 1990, pp. 23–24
  12. Chapman, C (1996). The Llantrisant Branches of the Taff Vale Railway. The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-481-4.
  13. "Sewta Rail Strategy Study" (PDF). Jacobs Consultancy, Sewta Rail Strategy Study. South East Wales Transport Alliance. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 March 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  14. Lyons, E.T. (1974) [1972]. An Historical Survey of Great Western Engine Sheds 1947. Headington: Oxford Publishing Co. p. 190. ISBN 0-902888-16-1.
  15. GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 128

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