Penarth railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Penarth
code = PEN


manager = Arriva Trains Wales
locale = Penarth
borough = Vale of Glamorgan
platforms = 1
start = 1878
Downside removed 1968
Buildings replaced 1984
usage0405 = 0.453
usage0506 = 0.450
usage0607 = 0.515

Penarth railway station is the railway station serving the town of Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. It is the terminus of the Penarth branch of the Vale of Glamorgan Line 4¼ miles (7 km) south of Cardiff Central.

"Station history"

The busy years

The station opened in 1878 and stands on an extension of the line originally built by the Taff Vale Railway in 1865 allowing the newly-created docks in Penarth to compete on equal terms with the now famous Cardiff Bute Docks [cite book|author=Hutton, John|title=The Taff Vale Railway, vol. 3|publisher=Silver Link|year=2006 ISBN 978-1-85794-251-4] . The line now terminates at Penarth station but, until 1968 the spur continued on through to Alberta Halt (by the Archer Road bridge), Lower Penarth (Cosmeston) Halt, Lavernock Halt, Swanbridge Halt and Sully Station before connecting back to the Barry Railway at Cadoxton.

For over seventy years between 1896 and closure in 1968 most of the summer weekend and school holiday rail traffic from Penarth carried holidaymakers and Penarthians to the busy beach at Lavernock or the Barry Island Pleasure Park for the day, with steam trains operating every thirty minutes from 7.15 am until 11.45 pm in both directions.

Effects of the Beeching review

However, as with most rural branch lines affected by the Beeching Axe, the stretch of line from the Snocem Cement Works, at Cosmeston, to Cadoxton was removed in 1968 and, when the cement works finally closed in 1970, the track from Penarth Station was also removed. When in full operation the branch line had two, or in part three, tracks and goods sidings at Penarth but it is now single track from the Cogan junction to Penarth.

The redundant track bed through Lower Penarth and out towards Sully has, in part, been built on and blocked off but still retains long stretches as a partially navigable rural greenway and cyclepath as far as the Fort Road bridge near Lavernock.

Until 1968 the station had two platforms, one on each side of the tracks for down and up traffic, with a gated foot crossing. When the Sully branch closed the platform buildings on the Plymouth Road side were sold off and used as a commercial garden centre until they were finally demolished in the 1980s and a new Government Jobcentre plus and private offices built in their place. The loss of the downside platform and its station building also effectively closed the station's main car parking berths in the specially widened eastern end of Plymouth Road'.

The removal of the coastal rail spur severed the direct link between Penarth and nearby Barry. Completion of the journey by rail today entails first travelling in the opposite direction as far as Grangetown, before catching a connecting train to Barry, effectively doubling the journey time and distance travelled.

Original Buildings

The majority of the original 19th century station buildings were demolished and replaced with modern structures in a major remodelling during 1984. Since 1971 the station's original bijou ticket office building, built in 1878, has been used for other purposes, first as a burger bar and more recently a late night Kebab shop.

The original "Railway Hotel" no longer provides accommodation but still operates as a boisterous and popular young persons' public house with the originally separate lounge bar, smoke room, public bar and off-sales shop all knocked into a single open space. The busy outside beer garden has been popular with the town's younger drinkers, during summer months, for over forty years.

"Facilities"

The station retains a tiny 'drop off and pick up only' car park located in Station Approach, but it is more commonly used for local shopping needs than for station traffic. The new ticket office within the station building is open early morning to mid afternoon each day except Sunday.

All services on this line are currently operated by Arriva Trains Wales as part of the Valley Lines portion of the National Rail network.

"Service"

Monday to Saturday daytimes there is a train every 15 minutes to Cardiff Central and beyond. Evenings there is an half-hourly service and Sundays a two-hourly service in each direction.

"Gallery"

* [http://www.geocities.com/cardiffrail/TVR-Cadoxton-to-Penarth.html Branchline map and photos of current greenway]

* [http://www.trackbed.com/pages/photos/bpm00101-00150.htm Historical photos of the station and branch line halts]

"References"

"External links"

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