Abercynon railway station is the railway station serving the village of

Abercynon Abercynon (), is both a village and a community (and electoral ward) in the Cynon Valley within the unitary authority of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The community comprises the village and the districts of Carnetown and Grovers Field to the south, ...

in the

Cynon Valley Cynon Valley () is a former coal mining valley in Wales. Cynon Valley lies between Rhondda and the Merthyr Valley and takes its name from the River Cynon. Aberdare is located in the north of the valley and Mountain Ash is in the south of th ...

, Wales. It is located on the Merthyr Line, north of . Passenger services are provided by

Transport for Wales Transport for Wales (TfW; cy, Trafnidiaeth Cymru; cy, TrC, label=none) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consi ...

History

It was first opened on this site as "Navigation Road" in 1840 and was then renamed "Aberdare Junction" by the

Taff Vale Railway The Taff Vale Railway (TVR) was a standard gauge railway in South Wales, built by the Taff Vale Railway Company to serve the iron and coal industries around Merthyr Tydfil and to connect them with docks in Cardiff. It was opened in st ...

in 1846 then further renamed "Abercynon" in 1896 and to "Abercynon South" in 1988. The original station buildings, including the Great Western Railway

signal box In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

of 1932 (which originally came from Birmingham Moor Street station) have been demolished, with the signal box being demolished near the end of 2013. In November 2007, a proposal was submitted by the Welsh Assembly Government to discontinue all services provided at . From a date "no sooner than 1st May 2008" as the notice ran, all services were to be transferred to Abercynon South, which would be rebuilt (with the reinstatement of the disused "up" side of the

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

) to accommodate all services serving both stations. Abercynon South railway station 1

Following the merger of Abercynon North and South, the latter station's name reverted to simply "Abercynon". On 14 December 2010, a free

Park and Ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system ( ...

car park opened on the site of the station yard, with capacity for 160 cars. This is hoped to improve commuter travel to Cardiff and other areas on the

Valley Lines Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes ( cy, Llwybrau Lleol y Cymoedd a Chaerdydd) (formerly Valley Lines) is the network of passenger suburban railway services radiating from Cardiff, Wales. It includes lines within the city itself, the Vale of Glam ...

network. This was funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and the European Regional Development Fund. On 26 and 27 April 2012, the British Royal Train visited the station as part of the tour of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The train had to stop at Abercynon due to the tight curves on the line, with the Royals continuing their journey by road. In October 2013 the

Signal Box In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

(out of use since the aforementioned 2008 remodelling & resignalling) was removed and a new

Ticket Vending Machine A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine (TVM), is a vending machine that produces paper or electronic tickets, or recharges a stored-value card or smart card or the user's mobile wallet, typically on a smartphone. For instanc ...

was installed on the station to enable travellers to purchase tickets before boarding a train as well printing tickets for pre-booked journeys. The layout is currently controlled from an interim signalling centre next to the 'up' (Cardiff-bound) platform. This was due to hand over control to the Cardiff Rail Operating Centre in 2014 as part of the wider modernisation of the area ahead of electrification of the Valley Lines network, but still appears to be under control. On 21 February 2015, a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

was unveiled at the station entrance to mark the location of trade unionist John Ewington's workplace. His claim against his employer, the

Company for unfair treatment led to the famous

Taff Vale Case ''Taff Vale Railway Co v Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants'' Labour Party. In February 2016 work started at the station to improve the facilities ahead of the

South Wales Metro The South Wales Metro () is an integrated heavy rail, light rail and bus-based public transport services and systems network in South East Wales around the hub of . The first phase was approved for development in October 2013. Works are current ...

system. Work included the installation of an extra shelter and a bike shelter where the old signal box stood.

replaced an existing shelter with a larger one including TFW branding in Spring 2019. In December 2017 Rhondda Cynon Taff funded the expansion of the car park to increase the number of spaces for users. There are future plans to further increase the number of spaces which is a reflection of the popularity of the site for commuters. In April 2019,

Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda Cynon Taf (; RCT; also spelt as Rhondda Cynon Taff) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff (Welsh: ''Taf'') and Ely valleys, plus a number of towns and vill ...

council opened a further extension to the car park. An extra 310 spaces have been built in the nearby Navigation Park to cater for future increase in demand. Other work included adapting the footpath to the station and adding a bus stop in the existing car park. The council also installed signs at both entrances explaining the history of Abercynon and its transport history. The project was funded by the

Welsh Government , image = , caption = , date_established = , country = Wales , address = , leader_title = First Minister () , appointed = First Minister approved by the Senedd, ceremonially appointed ...

. In October 2018, it was announced that the

would receive £119 million from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

. Some of this money is earmarked for doubling the line from Abercynon and Aberdare and from Abercynon to Merthyr Tydfil. Extra platforms would also be built to handle the extra services.

Service

During a typical off-peak service, Abercynon is served by four southbound trains per hour, with all trains stopping at Cardiff Central. 2-3 of those trains then continue to

Barry Island Barry Island ( cy, Ynys y Barri) is a district, peninsula and seaside resort, forming part of the town of Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. It is named after the 6th century Saint Baruc. Barry's stretch of coast, on the Bristol Chan ...

and an hourly service operates to

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge ...

via The

Vale of Glamorgan Line The Vale of Glamorgan Line ( cy, Llinell Bro Morgannwg) is a commuter railway line in Wales, running through the Vale of Glamorgan from Barry to Bridgend, via Rhoose and Llantwit Major. Route The Barry branch starts at Cardiff West and ru ...

. 3 trains per day off-peak are also scheduled to terminate at Cardiff Central rather than continuing south. Northbound services operate twice hourly to

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

and twice hourly to Aberdare Monday to Saturday. On Sundays, southbound services generally operate every two hours to Barry Island and Bridgend via The Vale of Glamorgan Line, and northbound service operate every two hours to Merthyr Tydfil and every two hours to Aberdare. From April 2018, Arriva Trains Wales increased morning and late afternoon services between Aberdare and Cardiff. This has given an hourly service between Aberdare and Cardiff in the morning and late afternoon. Major stations on the network are , , , and .

References

* *
Abercynon station on navigable O.S. map

External links

{{Transport in Rhondda Cynon Taf Railway stations in Rhondda Cynon Taf DfT Category F1 stations Former Taff Vale Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1840 Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail