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The Cardiff City Line is a suburban rail line in
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
that runs between and via .


History

The line was opened 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 stage ...
in 1859, as part of its route from to the
docks The word dock () in American English refers to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore). In British English, the term is not used the same way as in American Engli ...
at
Penarth Penarth ( , ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay. Penarth is a Seaside resort#Brit ...
. Subsequent construction by the TVR added links to and to the Extension Railway by 1878. Originally the line was freight-only, but over the years saw regular use for empty passenger trains thanks to its links with the depot at Cardiff Canton TMD and also for football specials to
Ninian Park Ninian Park was a association football, football stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovatio ...
stadium and periodic engineering diversions. The first regular passenger service was introduced to the line on 5 October 1987, when three new stations were opened at , and , and regular service was introduced to the previously existing station. The new service was introduced by
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...
in co-operation with the
Mid Glamorgan Mid Glamorgan () is a preserved county of Wales. From 1974 until 1996 it was also an administrative county with a county council. Mid Glamorgan was formed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. It consisted of part of the former adminis ...
and
South Glamorgan South Glamorgan () is a preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Wales. It was originally formed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, as a county council area. It consisted of the county borough of Cardiff along with the south ...
County Councils.


Services

There are currently trains every half hour which drop to every hour in the evenings on Mondays-Saturdays. These services are now loop services from June 2024 with Merthyr to Aberdare trains travelling via Llandaf and Cardiff Queen St then after Cardiff Central travel via Ninian Park to Radyr and onto Aberdare. June 2024 also saw the introduction of a hourly Sunday service with Aberdare services starting at Cardiff Central. Pre June 2024 city line services ran from Radyr to Coryton but these have been replaced by a Coryton to Penarth service.
Transport for Wales Transport for Wales (TfW; ; ) 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) consisting of itself and its subsidiaries: Trans ...
currently operates the line as part of the former Valley Lines network. TfW succeeded the previous franchisee Arriva Trains Wales in October 2018. Some freight services also use the line. The line is also used as a diversionary route for trains serving , and when the line between and Radyr is closed for engineering work. In the past there were shuttle trains on the line to serve and beyond with one stop at .


Trains

TfW operates the line with diesel multiple units of Sprinter classes
150 150 may refer to: * 150 (number), a natural number * AD 150, a year in the 2nd century AD * 150 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 150 Regiment RLC * Combined Task Force 150 * 150 Nuwa, a main-belt asteroid * Chevrolet 150, an economy or fleet car ...
and 153.


Electrification

On 16 July 2012 the
Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...
announced plans to electrify the line. This will require new
electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...
trains and should reduce journey times, operating costs and maintenance costs. Work was expected to start between 2014 and 2019, but was pushed back to between 2019 and 2024. The announcement was made as an extension of the electrification of the
South Wales Main Line The South Wales Main Line (), originally known as the London, Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway or simply as the Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway, is a branch of the Great Western Main Line in Great Britain. It diverges from the co ...
from to and the electrification of the south Wales Valley Lines at a total cost of £350 million. This in turn is part of a £9.4 billion investment in railways in England and Wales. However, these plans have since been replaced by Welsh Government's
South Wales Metro The South Wales Metro () is an integrated heavy rail, light rail and bus-based public transport services and systems network being developed in South East Wales around the hub of railway station.The development will also include the electrif ...
. This line has been partially taken over, and is now being electrified.


See also

* List of railway stations in Cardiff


References

{{South Wales Metro Railway lines in Wales City Line Railway lines opened in 1987