The Cardiff City Line is a
commuter railway line
Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...
in
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Ki ...
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 at
Penarth
Penarth (, ) is a town and community in the Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg), Wales, exactly south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay.
Penarth is a wealthy seaside resort ...
. 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 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 of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British ...
in co-operation with the
Mid Glamorgan
, Government= Mid Glamorgan County Council
, Status= Non-metropolitan county (1974–1996) Preserved county (1996–)
, Start= 1974
, End= 1996
, Arms= ''Coat of arms of Mid ...
and
South Glamorgan County Councils.
Services
There are currently trains every half hour which drop to every hour in the evenings on Mondays-Saturdays. There is no Sunday service on the line.
Services normally continue to via the
Coryton Line.
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 ...
currently operates the line as part of the former
Valley Lines network. TfW succeeded the previous franchisee
Arriva Trains Wales
Arriva Trains Wales (ATW; cy, Trenau Arriva Cymru) was a British train operating company owned by Arriva UK Trains that operated the Wales & Borders franchise. It ran urban and inter-urban passenger services to all railway stations in 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 unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
s of
Sprinter classes
150 and
153.
Electrification
On 16 July 2012 the
Department for Transport
The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The ...
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 numb ...
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 ( cy, Prif Linell De Cymru), 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 ...
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. 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