Half a dozen lines emanate northwards from Cardiff up each of the major valleys, with lines to Merthyr Tydfil, Aberdare, Treherbert, Rhymney, Ebbw Vale, and Maesteg. They are joined by the line heading south out of Cardiff along the Vale of Glamorgan, with branches to Penarth, Barry Island and Bridgend. Together, they form the Valley Lines, one of the densest suburban railway networks outside London, as seen in the map below.
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| (Map based on OpenStreetMap; © OpenStreetMap contributors) |
As is so often the case, however, there used to be links between the lines; many fell victim to the infamous Beeching axe. In some cases, there are bus links between towns in neighbouring valleys, but some of them are so slow that it is quicker to go down one valley and up the other! We did use one bus in the end - but we're getting ahead of ourselves...
Saturday 9th March
0750 Coventry to Birmingham New St, arr 0816 (actual 0823)
Headcode: 2Y59, operated by London Midland using Desiro 350126
Distance: 19 miles
I joined Ian on a London Midland service to Birmingham New Street, and wolfed down some much-needed breakfast. The train was a few minutes late into Birmingham, but a quick change ensured that we made our connection to our next train:
0830 Birmingham New St to Cardiff Central, arr 1021
Headcode: 1V04, operated by CrossCountry using Turbostar 170636
Distance: 112 miles
The train from Birmingham to Cardiff took us through all-too-familiar territory down the Cross-Country Main Line towards Bristol. At Gloucester, however, we branched off to head down the western bank of the Severn, through the Forest of Dean, under the Severn Bridge, and into South Wales; the line afforded us good, if somewhat hazy, views across the Severn to Bristol.
Once we arrived in Cardiff, Ian grabbed his Valley Lines Day Explorer ticket (I had already bought mine in Coventry), before we jumped on our first valleys train to Penarth:
1031 Cardiff Central to Penarth, arr 1046
and
1047 Penarth to Cardiff Central, arr 1059
Headcodes: 2P31 and 2D26 resp., operated by Arriva Trains Wales using Sprinter 150256
Distance: 2.75 miles each way
Penarth, once a major seaside resort frequented by many residents of south Wales, is now a dormitory town for Cardiff, with pensioners making up a significant proportion of the population. The railway line to Penarth once extended on round the coast, and rejoined what is now the Vale of Glamorgan mainline at Cadoxton, but closures under the Beeching axe curtailed the service, and Penarth station is now a dead end.
This somewhat explains our confusion on board the train: we thought, as a seaside branch line, it should be going downhill. Instead, however, the line rose approaching the terminus; legacy of the days when continued round the coast. The line was otherwise unremarkable, taking just 15 minutes from Cardiff Central to Penarth; we had many more lines to go on, so we didn't linger and headed straight back to Cardiff.
1121 Cardiff Central to Maesteg, arr 1215
and
1217 Maesteg to Cardiff Central, arr 1309
Headcodes: 2L51 and 2G60 resp., operated by Arriva Trains Wales using Sprinter 158831
Distance: 28.5 miles each way
The line to Maesteg is unusual in many respects: for one, it is one of the only valley lines which does not go directly north from Cardiff; instead trains travel through open countryside, along the South Wales Main Line to Bridgend, before turning onto the branch to Maesteg. Thus, it does not end up as the north end of a north-south line through Cardiff, but rather the west end of a east-west line: many trains from Maesteg continue through Cardiff and terminate at Cheltenham Spa.
On this occasion, it was also unusual in being served by class 158: almost every other train we got on the valleys were either Pacers or class 150s, with class 158s usually reserved for longer distance services. However, class 158s do offer greater capacity, and while the train to Maesteg was rather quiet, the train back became ever more packed as we got into Cardiff; though of course by this time it was Saturday lunchtime, with shoppers heading to Cardiff in their droves.
Lunchtime for us consisted of buying some sandwiches in M&S, and eating them while waiting on the platform during the 40-minute gap to our next train. While we were waiting on platform 6, however, we noticed that a person had somehow fallen off platform 4 onto the tracks!
Fortunately the First Great Western service which was just coming into platform 4 at the time saw the person and managed to stop in time, and the staff on platform 6 (there being no platform 5) stopped the Bargoed service well short of the danger. There ensued ten or so minutes of trying (and eventually succeeding) to rouse the apparently rather sozzled passenger, culminating in various drivers, guards, platform staff and BTP officers lifting the guy back onto the platform.
The passenger seemed no worse for his excursion onto the tracks - he'd probably just had too much to drink - but having blocked the tracks for ten minutes there was then a backlog of trains to unclog. The 13:41 to Aberdare eventually departed over ten minutes late, running non-stop to Pontypridd to make up time. The 13:46 to Bargoed, behind it, was similarly sent non-stop to Caerphilly to make up time. Eventually our train to Coryton came in:
1351 (actual 1401) Cardiff Central to Coryton, arr 1413 (actual 1414)
and
1415 Coryton to Radyr, arr 1454
Headcode: 2V31 and 2C29 resp., operated by Arriva Trains Wales using Pacer 143616
Distance: 4.75 miles and 9.5 miles resp.
Our train eventually rolled in and left ten minutes late. To make up time on this very short journey, we called as normal at Queen Street, before proceeding non-stop to Coryton, missing out all five intermediate stations. That allowed us to make up almost all our delay, and we arrived in Coryton just one minute late. Coming back, we left just a minute late and ran more or less on time throughout the rest of the journey.
The Coryton line is a rather odd single-track branch, just two-and-a-half miles from Heath Junction to the end of the line, but with five intermediate stations. This makes the station rather close: Ty Glas and Birchgrove are just 17 chains (about 340m) apart - the closest two stations in the country. Better yet, the fixed distant board (indicating to the driver to brake) for the end of the line at Coryton is before the penultimate station at Whitchurch!
We returned back through Queen Street and Central before heading on the so-called City Line to Radyr via Ninian Park. The route snakes round the back of Canton depot, affording a good view of all the rusting old locomotives and rolling stock, together with several trains not running that day due to maintenance.
Although the City Line opened in 1859, and is often used as a diversionary route when the "mainline" to Radyr via Llandaff is blocked, the intermediate stations only opened in 1987, since when a stopping service has been provided. We changed at Radyr onto a train to Merthyr Tydfil that had come via Llandaff:
1510 Radyr to Merthyr Tydfil, arr 1601
Headcode: 2M38, operated by Arriva Trains Wales using Pacer 142082*+143605
Distance: 18 miles
Until now, all the lines (except Maesteg) had been suburban, never getting out of the built-up sprawl of Cardiff. But as we headed north on the Merthyr line, the line climbed more and more into the hills, and gradually the suburbs faded into sinewy settlements along the valley floor, with the hills getting larger and barer. This wasn't Cardiff any more: this was the foothills of the Brecon Beacons, and it made for pretty impressive views.
The line itself is double-track up to Abercynon, where the branches to Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare split, each being a single-track line with passing loops to allow a half-hourly service (combining to form an every 15 minutes service from Abercynon south), having been upgraded in 2008 with EU funding (prior to which each branch was just hourly).
The valleys of South Wales were not just powerhouses of industry, but also one of the birthplaces of the Labour movement. The Taff Vale Railway - builders of this line - were the losers in one of the formative labour law cases of the early 20th century, which held that unions could be liable for loss of profits due to strike action. The case lead directly to the formation of the modern Labour Party, and overturning said case was one of the Labour movement's first big achievements.
Merthyr Tydfil itself, in comparison to its beautiful surroundings, is now rather run-down, one of the many victims of the coal mine closures in the 1980s. Where once major industries dominated, derelict factories and run-down towns stand as a legacy of Britain's now-vanquished industrial past. Even the bus station - with 16 stands for a town of 30,000 people! - feels too big for the present day. We didn't have too long to wait for our bus to Rhymney:
1620 Merthyr Tydfil bus station to Rhymney Royal, arr 1653
Bus #3 operated by Stagecoach South Wales
Distance: approx 9 miles
Rather than go all the way back to Cardiff and back up another valley, we got a bus from Merthyr Tydfil to Rhymney, saving ourselves a good hour. Our ticket was (supposedly) valid on the bus, and the driver did accept it - though he seemed a bit bemused by the ticket! The bus ride, partly along the soon-to-be-dualled Heads of the Valleys road, was marked by steep hills and tempting glances northwards into the Brecon Beacons.
After half an hour, we got off by the Royal in Rhymney and wandered down from the town - perched on the valley hillside - to the railway line at the bottom of the valley. We had most of half an hour to wait; with the wind starting to pick up and not much shelter on the platform, we were glad when the train finally arrived, about ten minutes late:
1729 Rhymney to Cardiff Queen St, arr 1824
Headcode: 2P87, operated by Arriva Trains Wales using Pacer 142073+143614*
Distance: 22.75 miles
The reason for the train's late arrival became apparent once we got on: it was running on three out of four engines. On the steep valleys - many of which have long stretches of 1 in 50 - that makes quite a difference. Fortunately, our trip back to Cardiff was downhill!
The line to Rhymney, unlike the line to Merthyr, seemed closer to the valley floor; with the sun now below the tops of the hills, the views were more subdued, but nonetheless very nice. Rhymney itself is a small village, and not until you get to Bargoed do the settlements have any size to them. Slowly but surely, though, as we headed down through Ystrad Mynach and Caerphilly, the Cardiff suburbs - and the darkness - encroached, and we alighted at Queen Street in the dark, with one last train to catch:
1836 Cardiff Queen St to Cardiff Bay, arr 1840
Headcode: 2B20, operated by Arriva Trains Wales using Sprinter 153353
Distance: 1 mile
The Cardiff Bay branch is an odd little line, just a mile long. One train shuttles back and forth between Queen Street and Cardiff Bay, with a round trip every 12 minutes. It wasn't always like this, though: even until 2005, there were some through trains from the valleys into Cardiff Bay.
While the shuttle should be run by the Bubble Car, Arriva's bubble car is out of action for the next few months with a transmission problem. Usually this would see the service replaced by a Pacer, but instead we had a one-car Sprinter making an unusual appearance on the Bay shuttle.
Cardiff Bay, once one of the biggest docks in the world, is by some measures one of the most successful urban regeneration projects in the UK: the docks, largely derelict after the Second World War, have been transformed by the Cardiff Barrage into a large commercial area, with a concert hall, a leisure centre, the Welsh Assembly, and a wide variety of shops and restaurants. Indeed, we had a lovely dinner in Café Rouge, before walking over to our hotel just outside the city centre for the night.
---
Sunday 10th March
After a good night's sleep and a suitably large breakfast in the restaurant adjoining the hotel, we walked leisurely back to Cardiff Central, grabbed some lunch to eat on the train, and headed for our first train. Sunday morning engineering works meant most of the valley lines were shut, with just one remaining open all day:
1130 Cardiff Central to Ebbw Vale Parkway, arr 1229
and
1229 Ebbw Vale Parkway to Cardiff Central, arr 1331
Headcodes: 2N13 and 2F34 resp., operated by Arriva Trains Wales using Sprinter 150279
Distance: 28.75 miles each way
The line to Ebbw Vale reopened in 2008, after 46 years without trains. While once the trains ran to Newport, today's services run to and from Cardiff Central, running along the South Wales Main Line for ten miles, turning off towards Ebbw Vale just a mile short of Newport. Indeed, the trains are explicitly shown on the departure board as not calling at Newport; it's a rather odd situation, but one that's hoped will be improved in the future.
In fact, that those improvements were not part of the line's original opening is now looking questionable. The line is one of rail's great success stories: from nothing they have generated 570,000 journeys per annum on the line, well in excess of the forecast 400,000. Another seven miles of double track would be required to double services to half-hourly, which is looking more and more necessary. That said, that extra track will require something like £17 million - nearly as much as the £28 million it cost to reopen the line in the first place.
The line itself is one of the prettiest in South Wales: the Ebbw Valley is a bit more steep-sided than the others, and the line climbs steeply at 1 in 65 for most of its length, curving sinuously to follow the valley sides. The line ends at Ebbw Vale Parkway, some way outside the town centre, though an extension into the town has also been proposed. The line was pretty quiet on this overcast Sunday morning, but nonetheless busy enough to help explain the line's popularity.
1341 Cardiff Central to Aberdare, arr 1442
and
1454 Aberdare to Pontypridd, arr 1522
Headcode: 2A12 and 2F30 resp., operated by Arriva Trains Wales using Sprinter 150252
Distance: 23.25 miles and 11 miles resp.
Our next train - up the line to Aberdare - involved a touch of déjà vu, on more than one count. For one, we were partially retracing our steps: this time we took the "main line" to Radyr, via Llandaff rather than Ninian Park, but from there we followed the Merthyr line once more, peeling off at Abercynon to turn left and head up the adjacent Cynon valley to Aberdare.
Secondly, the guard on this service was the same guard as on our service to Coryton the previous day - and she recognised us! In fairness, we had had a brief conversation on the train to Coryton, explaining that we didn't care that it was non-stopping everywhere, we just wanted to go to the end of the line and come back. We did exactly the same here, but at least we were changing at Pontypridd...
By now the relative warmth of Saturday had been replaced with a biting easterly wind, bringing a colder, greyer feel to the place: it felt more barren, even if it was just less sunny. Parts of the line to Aberdare felt a little more exposed, being in a slightly more open valley. Aberdare station itself was surrounded by a huge carpark, nearly empty but no doubt well-used by commuters on weekdays driving to the station, which is on the edge of town.
We headed back down the line as far as Pontypridd, one station south of Abercynon. At Pontypridd, a third line peels off to Treherbert. We disembarked and looked in vain for a toilet: the very friendly guard was able to advise us to head to the pub, but with just under fifteen minutes we decided not to risk it.
In a somewhat odd arrangement, we duly went through the ticket barriers, before crossing the footbridge over to the northbound platform, somewhat staggered from the other, and waited in the not-quite-windproof shelter for our final valleys train:
1536 Pontypridd to Treherbert, arr 1610
and
1617 Treherbert to Cardiff Queen St, arr 1714
Headcode: 2T12 and 2Y64 resp., operated by Arriva Trains Wales using Sprinter 150257
Distance: 10.75 miles and 22.5 miles resp.
The line to Treherbert heads west from Pontypridd rather than north, through the more built-up Rhondda valley; while the Aberdare and Merthyr lines had long stretches of open countryside, the line to Treherbert featured just a few glimpses.
In a remarkable symmetry with the Merthyr and Aberdare lines, the line is single track beyond Porth, with a passing loop at Ystrad Rhondda, the alphabetically last station in Britain. On weekdays this permits a half-hourly service. Sundays, however, see a much more limited service on the valleys, with services to each of the extremities of Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr running just once every two hours.
Treherbert is one of only two valleys to have sidings to store trains at the "top", the other being Rhymney: four sidings at Treherbert, and five at Rhymney, mean trains don't have to run up from Cardiff first thing in the morning and back down in the evening. With a commuter network like this, getting people into Cardiff in the morning and back out in the evening is key, making the arrangement somewhat surprising. I guess the capital cost of building sidings in often cramped station areas outweighs the cost of a few empty stock movements.
The train was reasonably well-loaded in both directions, the Sunday afternoon "rush" gradually picking up with people heading home after the weekend. At the end of our weekend in and around Cardiff, we disembarked at Queen Street - more central to the town than Cardiff Central - and wandered into town.
After the remarkably nice and recently redeveloped area of Cardiff Bay, we half-expected the city centre itself to be somewhat run-down, but we were gladly proved wrong, a variety of modern shopping developments making for a modern, clean city centre. We ate a very swift (yet no less enjoyable) meal in Wagamama, being in and out in less than an hour, before walking back to Central to head home.
1845 Cardiff Central to Birmingham New St, arr 2044
Headcode: 1M83, operated by CrossCountry using Turbostar 170115+170114*
Distance: 112 miles
Our train back to Birmingham once again followed the Severn estuary up through Chepstow and Lydney; rather than a hazy daytime view, we instead had a crisp, clear night-time view across the Severn to the northern suburbs of Bristol. Aside from a brief wait outside Newport, the journey was uneventful. By the time we got to Birmingham, our final train had already arrived:
2114 Birmingham New St to Coventry, arr 2144
Headcode: 2Y49, operated by London Midland using Desiro 350130
Distance: 19 miles
Our final train, taking me home to Coventry and Ian to Northampton, put us back on more familiar territory, and brought back a much-missed feature: electric traction. After an entire weekend of noisy diesel units struggling up the steep gradients in the Valleys, I suddenly realised just how much nicer electric trains were when we pulled out of New Street with not much more than a whirr. Not having to raise your voice to make yourself heard is definitely an advantage.
But electric trains have many more advantages, so many that in fact the Valley Lines are set for electrification. By 2020, the whole of the Valley Lines will be electrified, as part of a £9 billion programme of electrification and upgrades to the railway network. Every train we took (except the Birmingham-Cardiff trains) would be electric if we did this again in about seven years' time.
The Cardiff Valleys are perfect for electrification. For one, the hills enable a significant speed and acceleration benefit to be gained by using electric traction, simply because the train doesn't have to haul its own engine up the hill - diesel engines are heavy!
More than that, though, the density of the network means that the ratio between the number of services to be converted to electric traction to the length of wires to be erected is remarkably high, ensuring value for money. The lines are also short enough to not require lots of expensive feeder stations from the National Grid, with probably just one major feed in Cardiff being sufficient.
We had a lovely weekend up and down the valleys, missing out only the Vale of Glamorgan Line, linking Cardiff to Bridgend via Barry. While the line to Barry - with a short spur from there to Barry Island - has always had a frequent passenger service, the last section between Barry and Bridgend was reopened in 2005, with stations at Rhoose (for Cardiff Airport) and Llantwit Major. While not as brilliantly successful as the Ebbw Vale line, the line has nonetheless proved popular.
Ah well, there's always next time...
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