, symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Railway Station, Merthyr Tydfil (geograph 4049515).jpg , caption = Merthyr Tydfil railway station in 2014 , borough =

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 T ...

, country = Wales , coordinates = , grid_name =

Grid reference A projected coordinate system, also known as a projected coordinate reference system, a planar coordinate system, or grid reference system, is a type of spatial reference system that represents locations on the Earth using cartesian coordin ...

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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) cons ...

, platforms = 1 , code = MER , classification = DfT category E , opened = 2 November 1853 , mpassengers = , footnotes = Passenger statistics from the

Office of Rail and Road The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways. ORR regulates Network Rail by setting its ...

, mapframe=yes , mapframe-zoom = 13 Merthyr Tydfil railway station is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

serving the town of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It is the

terminus Terminus may refer to: * Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination * Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination Geography *Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United ...

of the Merthyr branch of the Merthyr Line. Passenger services are provided by

. The station has one platform, and 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 A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

. 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 A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

near Merthyr Vale.

History

The first station in Merthyr was opened by the Taff Vale Railway on 21 April 1841 in Plymouth Street. This was the second stage of the building of the main line from Navigation House (later Abercynon). The station was closed on 1 August 1877 when all Taff Vale passenger traffic was diverted to the Great Western Railway station at Merthyr High Street. In 1853, Merthyr High Street railway station opened as the terminus of the

Vale of Neath Railway The Vale of Neath Railway (VoNR) was a broad gauge railway company, that built a line from Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare to Neath, in Wales, chiefly to transport the products of the Merthyr iron industries to ports on Swansea Bay. The railway focus ...

on the site. Designed by

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "on ...

, the two platform station encompassed

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union ( C ...

lines, and was enclosed by an overall roof. The Vale of Neath also encompassed the

Swansea and Neath Railway The Vale of Neath Railway (VoNR) was a broad gauge railway company, that built a line from Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare to Neath, in Wales, chiefly to transport the products of the Merthyr iron industries to ports on Swansea Bay. The railway focus ...

, enabling trains to run to Swansea docks, and after amalgamation with the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

on 1 February 1865, also ran through trains to

London Paddington Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great We ...

. 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 In railway engineering, "gauge" is the transverse distance between the inner surfaces of the heads of two rails, which for the vast majority of railway lines is the number of rails in place. However, it is sometimes necessary for track to c ...

allowed them all to consolidate their services at Merthyr High Street: *Great Western Railway: trains from

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester, England, Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. ...

through to Swansea over a connection at Middle Duffryn * Taff Vale: to

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

(transferred from their own ''Plymouth Street'' terminus in 1877) * Brecon & Merthyr: onwards to Brecon * Rhymney Railway * London & North Western: to the Midlands (via

Brynmawr Brynmawr (; , ,) is a market town, community and electoral ward in Blaenau Gwent, Wales. The town, sometimes cited as the highest town in Wales, is situated at above sea level at the head of the South Wales Valleys. It grew with the develop ...

and ) and Swansea *

Cambrian Railways The Cambrian Railways owned of track over a large area of mid Wales. The system was an amalgamation of a number of railways that were incorporated in 1864, 1865 and 1904. The Cambrian connected with two larger railways with connections to the ...

: Cardiff/Treherbert service to Aberystwyth via the Brecon & Merthyr route

After the whole of the Great Western system was converted to

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in E ...

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 the closure of all but the Taff Vale lines into the station between 1951 and 1964, the passenger facilities were rebuilt by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four (British ra ...

on the southwest corner of the original site in 1974 as a single island providing two platforms. A further rebuild in 1996 saw it reduced to its present single platform configuration, with a

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...

superstore and other retail outlets now occupying the rest of the old station site.

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 and then alternately to either or 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 ...

.GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 130 (Network Rail) On Sundays there is a two-hourly service from Barry Island and to Bridgend via the Vale of Glamorgan Line.

References

External links

Railways of Merthyr Tydfil - Merthyr Tydfil Central Station. Photos of the station over the years
{{Cardiff, Newport and the Valleys railway stations Railway stations in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough DfT Category E stations Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1853 Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail