Pontypridd railway station

This article is about the present station on the Merthyr and Rhondda lines. For the former Barry Railway station, see Pontypridd Graig railway station.

Pontypridd
A visiting railtour in the station (July 2017)
General information
LocationPontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf
Wales
Coordinates51°35′58″N 3°20′31″W / 51.5994°N 3.3419°W / 51.5994; -3.3419
Grid referenceST071898
Managed byTransport for Wales
Platforms3
Other information
Station codePPD[1]
ClassificationDfT category C2
History
Original companyTaff Vale Railway
Pre-groupingTaff Vale Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Key dates
9 October 1840 (1840-10-09)Opened as Newbridge Junction
March 1866Renamed Pontypridd
1924Renamed Pontypridd Central
10 July 1930Renamed Pontypridd
Passengers
2020/21 0.153 million
 Interchange  6,808
2021/22 0.409 million
 Interchange  24,448
2022/23 0.536 million
 Interchange  35,985
2023/24 0.596 million
 Interchange  0.230 million
2024/25 0.780 million
 Interchange  32,696
Listed Building – Grade II
FeaturePontypridd Railway Station Main Platform including buildings and canopy
Designated17 July 1990
Reference no.13525[2]
Location
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Pontypridd railway station serves the town of Pontypridd in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is located at the junction of the Merthyr line and the Rhondda line. It is between Treforest to the south, Trehafod to the northwest, and Abercynon to the northeast. It is sited 12 miles 75 chains (20.8 km) from Cardiff Docks (Bute Town).[3]

Until the 1930s, Pontypridd had two other stations. One, just behind the present station, was known as Pontypridd Graig. It closed in 1930. The other, Pontypridd Tram Road, serving the former Pontypridd to Newport line, closed in 1922. It was located near where this line crossed the 'Broadway' in Treforest.

History

The station was built by the Taff Vale Railway (TVR) and opened on 8 October 1840.[4] It was known as Newbridge until March 1861, when it was renamed Newbridge Junction, and then renamed Pontypridd in 1902.[4][5] Between 1924 and 1930 it was known as Pontypridd Central.[4]

The Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway (PC&NR) was opened for goods on 25 July 1884, providing a route to Newport Docks for Rhondda coal; the trains were worked by TVR locomotives. Passenger services, which used the TVR's station at Pontypridd, began on 28 December 1887, and were operated by the Alexandra (Newport and South Wales) Docks and Railway (ADR), which absorbed the PC&NR in 1897.[6] Between April 1904 and July 1922,[5] passenger services from Caerphilly terminating at Pontypridd used the ADR's own station at Pontypridd Tram Road.[4]

The TVR and ADR amalgamated with the Great Western Railway on 1 January 1922, as did the Barry Railway, which also had a station in Pontypridd. To avoid confusion, the two stations were both renamed in 1924, the former TVR station becoming Pontypridd Central, with the ex-Barry Railway station becoming Pontypridd Graig.[5] On 10 July 1930, Pontypridd Graig was closed, with its services being diverted to Pontypridd Central, which reverted to its former name of Pontypridd.[5]

The former PC&NR route was closed to passengers from 17 September 1956.[6] and completely in 1965, whilst the service to Llantrisant ended on 31 March 1952 and the former Barry Railway services to Cadoxton and to Cardiff Central via St Fagans on 10 September 1962.

With the Beeching Plan reducing passenger traffic (the line to Aberdare closing in March 1964), and falling coal production, track simplification was carried out by British Rail in 1974, resulting in the removal of all track from the eastern side of the island platform. Effectively, from 1974 onwards, the station functioned as a single-platform station (using old platform 1). However, with the subsequent re-opening of Aberdare and the growth of passenger traffic, British Rail added a new northbound platform in 1990–1991. This platform was built alongside the former freight lines west of the main island platform, and did not form part of the original station.[7]

Accidents and incidents

On Monday 23 January 1911, a collision between a passenger train and a coal train on the Taff Vale Railway line at Hopkinstown, outside Pontypridd in Wales, resulted in the loss of eleven[8] (twelve according to the official report)[9] lives. The accident, also known as the Hopkinstown rail disaster or the Coke Ovens collision, occurred at 9:48 am, when the 09:10 passenger train from Treherbert to Cardiff, heading towards Pontypridd and carrying about 100 people, rounded the bend at Gyfeillion Lower signal box with a clear signal ahead. The train collided with a stationary coal train that was using the same line. The impact caused the underframe of the front carriage to rise up and pierce the carriage directly behind it.[10]

Regeneration

As part of a £200m regeneration scheme to boost train capacity in Cardiff and the surrounding areas, Pontypridd received a third platform in December 2014.[11]

Since December 2014, platforms have been re-numbered as follows:

  • Platform 1 (pre-1974 platform 6): Bay platform for southbound services to Cardiff.
  • Platform 2 (platform 1 pre-1974 and 1974–2014): Through southbound services to Cardiff.
  • Platform 3 (freight line platform built in 1990-1 as platform 2): Through northbound services.

In October 2019, the station's underpass was repainted with help from Lionel Stanhope. The murals reflect vintage railway signs with 'Pontypridd' on one side and 'Graig' on the other. The project also brought improved lighting to the area.[12]

Passenger volume

Passenger Volume at Pontypridd[13]
2002–03 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23
Entries and exits 697,143 679,588 704,298 778,253 782,935 784,516 815,398 1,034,976 873,630 878,656 861,092 799,790 777,508 801,850 864,292 884,132 814,898 153,272 408,742 536,050
Interchanges –[nb 1] 80,213 128,591 137,366 143,779 113,617 116,453 111,837 97,143 105,319 106,046 100,768 90,501 70,803 57,963 53,586 48,280 6,808 24,448 35,985

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

During Monday-Saturday daytimes, there are usually six trains an hour from Cardiff Central, made up of a half-hourly service frequency on each of the three branches, i.e. to Treherbert, Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare. This drops to hourly on each route in the evening. There are six trains an hour southbound to Cardiff Central via Cardiff Queen Street; two trains each hour terminate there, whilst the others continue to Barry Island (three per hour) or Bridgend via Barry (hourly). Some peak period & evening trains also serve Penarth, but the normal off-peak service pattern requires a change of train at Central or Grangetown for travellers heading there. In the evening there are three Cardiff-bound trains per hour.[14]

A reduced service operates on Sundays, with two-hourly frequencies on all three northbound routes and three trains every two hours southbound to Cardiff and beyond.

The service from this station towards Porth and Treherbert was suspended from summer 2023, due to major route upgrade work being carried out at multiple locations as part of the Valley Lines electrification scheme.[15] A replacement bus service was in operation calling at all local stations until rail services resumed on 26 February 2024.[16]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Treforest   Transport for Wales
Merthyr Line - Aberdare branch
   Abercynon
  Transport for Wales
Merthyr Line - Merthyr Tydfil branch
  
Treforest   Transport for Wales
Rhondda Line
   Trehafod
Disused railways
Pontypridd Tram Road
Line and station closed 		  Alexandra Docks and Railway
Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway 		  Trehafod
Line and station open

Notes

  1. ^ No data available.

References

  1. ^ "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  2. ^ Cadw. "Pontypridd Railway Station Main Platform including buildings and canopy (13525)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  3. ^ Bridge, Mike, ed. (2017). TRACKatlas of Mainland Britain: A Comprehensive Geographic Atlas Showing the Rail Network of Great Britain (3rd ed.). Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing Ltd. p. 26. ISBN 978 1909431 26 3.
  4. ^ a b c d Quick 2023, p. 372.
  5. ^ a b c d Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 233. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  6. ^ a b Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing. pp. 14, 40. CN 8983.
  7. ^ Hutton, John. The Taff Vale Railway, vol 1. Silver Link. ISBN 978-1-85794-249-1.
  8. ^ Davies, John; Jenkins, Nigel; Baines, Menna; Lynch, Peredur (2008). The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales. p. 730. ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6.
  9. ^ Board of Trade; Lt Col E. Druitt (1911). Report on the fatal collision that occurred on the 23rd January, 1911 (PDF). HMSO.
  10. ^ Hopkinstown rail disaster Archived 5 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine Rhondda Cynon Taf, library service
  11. ^ "Improving the railway around Cardiff". Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  12. ^ "Pontypridd railway bridge transformed into a work of art".
  13. ^ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  14. ^ GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 130
  15. ^ "Treherbert Line Transformation". Transport For Wales News. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  16. ^ Johnson, Thomas (26 February 2024). "Treherbert Line reopens to passenger traffic after nine month transformation". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 14 March 2026.

Bibliography

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