- Merthyr Tydfil railway station
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Merthyr Tydfil 
Merthyr Tudful 
Merthyr Tydfil railway station in 2009 Location Place Merthyr Tydfil Local authority Merthyr Tydfil Coordinates 51°44′40″N 3°22′38″W / 51.7444°N 3.3773°WCoordinates: 51°44′40″N 3°22′38″W / 51.7444°N 3.3773°W Operations Station code MER Managed by Arriva Trains Wales Number of platforms 1 Live arrivals/departures and station information
from National Rail EnquiriesAnnual rail passenger usage 2004/05 * 0.300 million 2005/06 * 
0.294 million2006/07 * 
0.296 million2007/08 * 0.302 million2008/09 * 0.327 million2009/10 * 0.381 millionHistory Opened 1853 National Rail - UK railway stations A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z * Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Merthyr Tydfil from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year. 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 Arriva Trains Wales. The station has one platform which is situated near to the Tesco Superstore in the town.
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]
Contents
History
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 0 1⁄4 in (2,140 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:
- Great Western Railway: trains from Hereford through to Swansea over a connection at Middle Duffryn
- Taff Vale: to Cardiff
- Brecon & Merthyr: onwards to Brecon
- Rhymney Railway
- London & North Western: to the Midlands and Swansea
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 removal of all but the Taff Vale lines into the station under the Beeching Axe, 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. After the station was rebuilt again as a single platform in 1996, the Tesco superstore and other retail outlets now occupy most of the former Merthyr High Street station site.[2][3]
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. On Sundays there is a two-hourly service from Barry Island and to Bridgend via the Vale of Glamorgan Line.
References
- ^ [1] Wales Online news article
- ^ 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.
- ^ Hutton, John (2006). The Taff Vale Railway, vol. 1. Silver Link. ISBN 978-1-85794-249-1.
External links
- Train times and station information for Merthyr Tydfil railway station from National Rail
Preceding station 
National RailFollowing station Pentre-bach Arriva Trains Wales
Terminus Transport in Rhondda Cynon Taf Road 
Bus National Cycle Network Railway lines Railway stations Abercynon · Aberdare · Cwmbach · Dinas Rhondda · Fernhill · Llanharan · Llwynypia · Merthyr Tydfil · Merthyr Vale · Mountain Ash · Penrhiwceiber · Pontyclun · Pontypridd · Porth · Quakers Yard · Taffs Well · Ton Pentre · Tonypandy · Treforest · Treforest Estate · Trehafod · Treherbert · Treorchy · Troed-y-rhiw · Ynyswen · Ystrad Rhondda
Categories:- Railway stations in Merthyr Tydfil
- Former Great Western Railway stations
- Railway stations opened in 1853
- Railway stations served by Arriva Trains Wales
- DfT Category E stations
- Wales railway station stubs
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