Commuter railway line in South Wales
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(
April 2022
)
|
The
Rhondda line
, also known as the
Treherbert line
,
[3]
[4]
is a
commuter
railway line
in
South Wales
from
Cardiff
to
Treherbert
. The line follows the
Merthyr line
as far as
Pontypridd
, where it then diverges to continue along the
Rhondda Valley
.
Background
[
edit
]
The line is currently operated by
Transport for Wales
as part of the
Valley Lines
network. TfW replaced the previous franchise,
Arriva Trains Wales
in October 2018.
The first section of the line, as far as
Pontypridd
, is historically part of the
Taff Vale Railway
, from
Cardiff
to
Merthyr Tydfil
. At Pontypridd the Rhondda branch diverges and follows the course of the Rhondda Valley. It was single-tracked beyond
Porth
in the early 1980s, just prior to the commencement of the revival of the Valley Lines network. By 1986 a passing loop was constructed at
Ystrad Rhondda
station (itself newly built, with the original station of that name renamed
Ton Pentre
), to enable a half-hourly service to be introduced by
British Rail
. Another new station was opened at
Ynyswen
on the same day.
In March 2007 it was announced that platforms on the branch are to be lengthened to enable 6 car trains to run, together with leasing of an additional eight
Class 150s
for the whole network. This has been completed.
The line between Treherbert and Porth was closed between 21 and 24 January 2018 due to a landslip on the railway line. A replacement bus service ran whilst
Network Rail
cleared the line.
[5]
Services
[
edit
]
The line currently has a half-hourly service Monday to Saturday daytime with services decreasing to hourly in the evening. On Sunday the current service is two-hourly. On 20 July,
Arriva Trains Wales
announced a summer trial of extra Sunday services to Cardiff and Barry Island. This was in response to a recent survey by
Leanne Wood
and the success of extra Sunday services on the nearby
Merthyr Line
and
Rhymney Line
.
[6]
Electrification of the line
[
edit
]
On 16 July 2012 plans to electrify the line were announced by the UK Government as part of a £9.4bn package of investment of the railways in England and Wales.
[7]
The announcement was made as an extension of the electrification of the
South Wales Main Line
from Cardiff to Swansea and the electrification of the south Wales
Valley Lines
at a total cost of £350 million. The investment will require new trains and should result in reduced journeys times and a cheaper to maintain network. Work was expected to start between 2014 and 2019, but was then pushed back to between 2019 and 2024.
[8]
[9]
However, as part of Welsh Government's
South Wales Metro
this line has been taken over,
[10]
and is now being electrified
[11]
in preparation for new
Class 398
tram-train rolling stock.
[12]
The line closed at the end of April 2023 to update the outdated signaling system.
[4]
The line reopened in late February 2024.
[13]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
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]
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51°36′03″N
3°20′37″W
/
51.6009°N 3.3437°W
/
51.6009; -3.3437