Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes

"Valley Lines" redirects here. For the company, see Valley Lines (train operating company). For other uses, see Valley line.

Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes (formerly Valley Lines) is the urban and suburban rail network radiating from Cardiff, Wales. It includes lines within the city itself, the Vale of Glamorgan and the South Wales Valleys.^[1]

v t e Railway lines in the Welsh valleys
Legend
Hirwaun   Aberdare  Cwmbach Fernhill Mountain Ash  Merthyr Tydfil  Penrhiwceiber Pentre-bach  Treherbert  Troed-y-rhiw Ynyswen Merthyr Vale Treorchy Quakers Yard Ton Pentre  Rhymney  Ystrad Rhondda Pontlottyn Llwynypia Tir-Phil Tonypandy Brithdir Dinas Rhondda Bargoed Porth Gilfach Fargoed Trehafod Pengam Abercynon North Hengoed Abercynon Ystrad Mynach Pontypridd Llanbradach Treforest Energlyn & Churchill Park Treforest Estate Aber Taffs Well Caerphilly  Radyr  Lisvane & Thornhill Llanishen Llandaf  Ebbw Vale Town  Cathays Ebbw Vale Parkway  Coryton  Cwm Whitchurch  Abertillery  Rhiwbina Llanhilleth Birchgrove Newbridge Ty Glas Crosskeys Heath Low Lvl┃High Lvl Risca & Pontymister Danescourt Rogerstone Cardiff Queen Street Pye Corner Fairwater Newport Waun-Gron Park Welsh Marches line  Cardiff Bay   Cardiff Central  Severn Tunnel Jn River Taff South Wales Main Line to Bristol Parkway Grangetown Caldicot Ninian Park Chepstow Dingle Road Wales England border  Penarth  Lydney Cogan Gloucester Eastbrook Cheltenham Spa Dinas Powys Pontyclun Cadoxton Barry Docks Llanharan Barry  Barry Island  Pencoed Rhoose Cardiff International Airport Llantwit Major  Bridgend  South Wales Main Line to Swansea Wildmill Sarn Tondu Garth Maesteg (Ewenny Road)  Maesteg
Key
Cardiff Bay Line  0   0  Merthyr Line City Line  0   0  Rhondda Line Coryton Line  0   0  Rhymney Line Vale of Glamorgan Line  0   0  Ebbw Valley Railway

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

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.^[4][5] 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.^[6]

Electrification

See also: Proposed railway electrification in Great Britain

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.^[7]

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.^[8]

Lines

The Valley Lines network and surrounding routes

The colours used below are from the official network map (see External links). Stations in bold are major interchanges for the network.^[2]

Cardiff Bay Line	City Line	Coryton Line	Vale of Glamorgan Line
Cardiff Queen St. Cardiff Bay	Cardiff Queen St. Cardiff Central Ninian Park Waun-Gron Park Fairwater Danescourt Radyr	Cardiff Central Cardiff Queen St. Heath Low Level Ty Glas Birchgrove Rhiwbina Whitchurch Coryton	Cardiff Central Grangetown    Dingle Road    Penarth Cogan Eastbrook Dinas Powys Cadoxton Barry Docks Barry    Barry Island Rhoose Cardiff Int. Airport Llantwit Major Bridgend

Merthyr Line	Merthyr Line	Rhondda Line	Rhymney Line
Cardiff Central Cardiff Queen St. Cathays Llandaf Radyr Taffs Well Treforest Estate Treforest Pontypridd Abercynon Quakers Yard Merthyr Vale Troed-y-rhiw Pentre-bach Merthyr Tydfil	Cardiff Central Cardiff Queen St. Cathays Llandaf Radyr Taffs Well Treforest Estate Treforest Pontypridd Abercynon Penrhiwceiber Mountain Ash Fernhill Cwmbach Aberdare	Cardiff Central Cardiff Queen St. Cathays Llandaf Radyr Taffs Well Treforest Estate Treforest Pontypridd Trehafod Porth Dinas Rhondda Tonypandy Llwynypia Ystrad Rhondda Ton Pentre Treorchy Ynyswen Treherbert	Cardiff Central Cardiff Queen St. Heath High Level Llanishen Lisvane & Thornhill Caerphilly Aber Energlyn and Churchill Park Llanbradach Ystrad Mynach Hengoed Pengam Gilfach Fargoed Bargoed Brithdir Tir-Phil Pontlottyn Rhymney

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.^[9]

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:^[10]

• 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)^[10]
• 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).^[11][12]

█ Maesteg – Cheltenham	█ Ebbw Valley Railway
Cheltenham Spa Gloucester Lydney Chepstow Caldicot Severn Tunnel Junction Newport Cardiff Central Pontyclun Llanharan Pencoed Bridgend Wildmill Sarn Tondu Garth Maesteg (Ewenny Road) Maesteg	Cardiff Central (and/or Newport) Pye Corner Rogerstone Risca and Pontymister Crosskeys Newbridge Llanhilleth Ebbw Vale Parkway Ebbw Vale Town

See also

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