Treherbert railway station

Coordinates: 51°40′18″N 3°32′08″W / 51.6718°N 3.5356°W

Treherbert
Treherbert Station in March 2012
Location
Place	Treherbert
Local authority	Rhondda Cynon Taf
Grid reference	SS938981
Operations
Station code	TRB
Managed by	Arriva Trains Wales
Number of platforms	1
DfT category	F1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	0.456 million
2005/06	0.463 million
2006/07	0.491 million
2007/08	0.501 million
2008/09	0.503 million
2009/10	0.498 million
2010/11	0.526 million
2011/12	0.512 million
2012/13	0.530 million
2013/14	0.542 million
2014/15	0.522 million
History
Key dates	Opened 1901
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Treherbert from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Treherbert railway station is a railway station serving the village of Treherbert in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is the northern terminus of the Rhondda Line 23 miles (37 km) north west of Cardiff Central.

History

It was first opened on this site by the Taff Vale Railway in 1901,^[1] and was the connecting point of the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway with the collieries of the Rhondda Fawr via a 1 mile 1683 yard tunnel (completed in 1890) which was one of the longest in South Wales. The TVR had opened its Rhondda Fawr branch from Dinas (north of Pontypridd) in 1856 (to serve the Marquess of Bute's newly opened colliery)^[2] and began running passenger trains to the town seven years later.

Services over the R&SB via Aberavon to Swansea ended in December 1962, but the route through the Rhondda Tunnel and on to Maesteg and Bridgend via a connection at Cymmer Afan (over the Llynvi and Ogmore Railway) remained open until 1968, when the tunnel was closed due to roof distortion caused by mining subsidence.^[3][4] A replacement bus service then operated to Cymmer until the L&O route was formally closed to passenger traffic in June 1970. The tracks northwards remained in use for mineral traffic to the collieries at Blaenrhondda until 1978, but have since been lifted.

The TVR route towards Porth was singled in stages between 1972 and 1981 (with the portion from here as far as Cwmparc signal box the first to be so treated) and today only one platform remains, though there is a run round loop still in existence north of the station (part of the old line to Cymmer Afan) and four carriage sidings for the Valley Lines DMU fleet (several of which are stabled & serviced here overnight & at weekends).

Services

The basic service pattern on the route provides a departure every 30 minutes during the day Mondays to Saturdays, dropping to hourly in the evening. Trains run to (and terminate at) Cardiff Central via Porth, Radyr and Cardiff Queen Street, serving all stations except Trefforest Estate en-route. One early morning service continues to Penarth. On Sundays, the frequency is two-hourly, but services run through to Barry Island.^[5] Services are operated using Class 142, Class 143 and Class 150 Diesel Multiple Units.

Image gallery

• 
  Local train in 1946
• 
  Train arriving in the 1960s
• 
  Train from Swansea in 1962

References

1. Hutton, John (2006). The Taff Vale Railway, vol. 2. Silver Link. ISBN 978-1-85794-250-7.
2. "Treherbert"Rhonndda Cynon Taf Library Service; Retrieved 24 March 2016
3. Forgotten Relics - The Rhondda Tunnel www.forgottenrelics.co.uk; Retrieved 2013-09-09
4. RCTS Mystery Photographs - Blaengwynfi Tunnel RCTS website; Retrieved 2013-09-09
5. GB National Rail Timetable 2015-16 Edition, Table 130 (Network Rail)

External links

• Train times and station information for Treherbert railway station from National Rail