Cardiff City Line

The Cardiff City Line is a commuter railway line in Cardiff that runs between Radyr and Cardiff Central via Fairwater.

Cardiff City Line
A Class 142 train approaches Danescourt en route to Coryton
Overview
Owner	Network Rail and Transport for Wales
Locale	Cardiff
Termini	Cardiff Central Radyr
Stations	4
Service
Type	Heavy Rail
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	Transport for Wales Rail
Rolling stock	Class 150 DMUs Class 153 DMUs Class 756
History
Opened	1987
Technical
Line length	4 miles 66 chains (7.8 km)
Number of tracks	double track throughout
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	25 kV 50 hz AC OLE (Discontinuous)
Route map (Click to expand) Merthyr and Rhondda lines to Pontypridd Radyr Merthyr and Rhondda Lines to Cardiff Central Danescourt Fairwater Waun-gron Park Ninian Park Vale of Glamorgan Line Cardiff Central Cardiff Queen Street other Valley Lines

History

The line was opened by the Taff Vale Railway in 1859, as part of its route from Radyr to the docks at Penarth. Subsequent construction by the TVR added links to Cardiff Central and to the Penarth 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 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 Waun-gron Park, Fairwater and Danescourt, and regular service was introduced to the previously existing Ninian Park station. The new service was introduced by British Rail in co-operation with the Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan 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Pre June 2024 city line services ran from Radyr to Coryton but these have been replaced by a Coryton to Penarth service.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 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 Merthyr Tydfil, Aberdare and Treherbert when the line between Cardiff Queen Street and Radyr is closed for engineering work. In the past there were shuttle trains on the line to serve Pontypridd and beyond with one stop at Ninian Park.

Trains

TfW operates the line with diesel multiple units of Sprinter classes 150 and 153.

Electrification

On 16 July 2012 the Department for Transport announced plans to electrify the line. This will require new electric multiple unit 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 from Cardiff Central to Swansea 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. This line has been partially taken over, and is now being electrified.

See also

• List of railway stations in Cardiff