Port Talbot Parkway railway station

Infobox UK station
name=Port Talbot Parkway
manager=Arriva Trains Wales
locale=Port Talbot
borough=Neath Port Talbot
code=PTA
usage0405=0.290
usage0506=0.301
usage0607=0.352
platforms=2
start=

Port Talbot Parkway railway station is a railway station in Port Talbot, Wales. The station is located at street level near Station Road in Port Talbot town centre.

History

It was opened by the Great Western Railway as Port Talbot General, later becoming known as just Port Talbot (probably at the time it was rebuilt in the late 1960s or early 1970s to an island type station).

While it now bears the title "Parkway", it is not a Parkway station "per se". It was named "Parkway" in the 1980s when the old goods shed and yard were converted to a large car park to encourage patronage of eastbound commuters from the Neath and Swansea Valley areas, the idea being that overall travel time could be saved by catching the train at Port Talbot instead of Neath or Swansea because of the low line speed west of Port Talbot and the limited parking at the other two stations.

There were originally two stations near to the current site, one of which was Aberafan Town, which was on the old Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway route and the other being the nearby terminus of the Port Talbot Railway named Port Talbot Central.

Facilities

The station is of the island type and has 2 platforms:
*Platform 1, for westbound trains towards Swansea and West Wales.
*Platform 2, for eastbound trains towards Cardiff Central, Newport, London Paddington and Manchester Piccadilly

Future plans

Tesco intends to vacate its current store site near the Aberafan Centre and build a new store beside the station featuring a superstore, petrol station and car park. [ [http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/south-wales-news/port-talbot/2008/07/03/store-will-revitalise-town-not-harm-it-tesco-insists-91466-21208507/ Store will revitalise town not harm it, Tesco insists - Wales Online] ] The resignalling activity in the Port Talbot area during 2006/2007 has provided a new signalled turnback facility in both directions. There are proposals for the present Arriva Trains Wales Swanline service, which has one train every two hours between Swansea and Cardiff Central service to be altered to a service which terminates at Port Talbot Parkway and operate on an hourly basis between Swansea and Port Talbot Parkway. [ [http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/rus%20documents/route%20utilisation%20strategies/wales/wales%20rus.pdf Wales Route Utilisation Strategy Draft for Consultation] ]

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