, symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Cardiff Queen St. (19366639218).jpg , caption = Cardiff Queen Street seen from the north. , borough =

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 ...

City and County of 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 King ...

, country = Wales , coordinates = , grid_name = Grid reference , grid_position = , manager =

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 = 5 , code = CDQ , classification = DfT category C1 , years1 = 9 October 1840 , events1 = Opened as ''Cardiff Taff Vale'' , years2 = 1887 , events2 = Rebuilt and renamed ''Cardiff Queen Street'' , years3 = 1928 , events3 = Enlarged , years4 = 1973 , events4 = Rebuilt , years5 = 2014 , events5 = Redeveloped , 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 ...

Cardiff Queen Street railway station ( cy, Caerdydd Heol y Frenhines) 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 north and east of Central

, Wales. It is the fourth busiest railway station in

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 ...

. Being located near Queen Street, it is one of 20 stations in the city. It is, along with Cardiff Central, one of the two major hubs of the

Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes ( cy, Llwybrau Lleol y Cymoedd a Chaerdydd) (formerly Valley Lines) is the network of passenger suburban railway services radiating from Cardiff, Wales. It includes lines within the city itself, the Vale of G ...

local rail network. The station, and all of its services are run by

. In 2014, a reconstruction of the station was completed in order to reduce bottlenecks, with two extra platforms being put in (a previously existing platform, opposite platform 4, and a new bay platform next to platform 2 for the line to ), taking the total number of platforms to 5.

History

Early history

The first station close to the site of the current station, 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 stag ...

in October 1840 and was known as ''Cardiff Taff Vale''. This station had one platform to begin with, but a second was added in 1862, and at the same time, the head office of the Taff Vale Railway was moved alongside the station. In 1887, Taff Vale station was demolished and replaced by a new station with the current name ''Cardiff Queen Street'', which at this time consisted of two through platforms and a south facing bay, all covered by a large overall roof. Nearby, the Rhymney Railway built its own terminus just to the east of Queen Street called ' in 1858. This was replaced in 1871 by a new station called '' Cardiff Crockherbtown'' which was a short distance to the north-east of Queen Street. Crockherbtown station was renamed ''Cardiff (Rhymney)'' in 1888 and then ''Cardiff Parade'' in 1924. The Taff Vale and Rhymney railways became part of 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 ...

(GWR) in 1922. As there was no longer any need for two rival stations in close proximity, on 15 April 1928, the GWR opened a short connection just north of Queen Street connecting the Rhymney line to the Taff Vale line, this allowed Parade station to be closed and its services diverted to into Queen Street. In order to accommodate the extra Rhymney line services, Queen Street was enlarged at this time from three to five platforms, with the addition of a new island platform.

1973 rebuild

Cropped image of Cardiff Queen Street station geograph-3842590-by-Ben-Brooksbank

The station remained fairly unaltered until 1973, when it was completely 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 ...

. The rebuild saw the station's overall roof removed, the original Taff Vale station frontage and booking hall demolished and replaced with a modern structure, and the number of platforms reduced to three, consisting of a central island platform, and a south facing bay. Modern electric

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobil ...

s were installed to take passengers from the subway to the new platforms. On the east side of the station, a large office block was constructed called ''Brunel House'', which was until 1984, the headquarters of the Cardiff division of British Rail's Western Region. In 1988, the entrance building was refurbished, and in March 1990, the bay platform 3 was turned into a through platform. In 2005, the station was fitted with new ticket gates, operational when the station is staffed, which allow easier access in both directions. In 2006 LED screens replaced the old information display monitors. The old station car park is now dedicated for private use by residents of a nearby modern development of apartments known as "The Aspect".

2014 redevelopment

As part of a £220m regeneration scheme to boost train capacity in Cardiff and the surrounding areas, Cardiff Central and Cardiff Queen Street stations were redeveloped from April 2013 and June 2014 respectively. The whole Cardiff Area Signalling Renewal project was completed by early 2017, funded by the Department for Transport, Assembly Government and Network Rail. The Assembly Government committed £17m for the enhancements programme. As part of the scheme, a new entrance building and two new platforms were constructed at Queen Street, bringing the number of platforms back up to the pre-1973 number of five, allowing the number of trains running through the station to be increased from 12 per hour to 16 per hour. These included a second northbound through platform, and a south facing bay platform reserved for the shuttle service to . The new platforms were brought into use on Sunday 14 December 2014. Platform 1 is the new bay platform for the Cardiff Bay shuttle, platform 2 is for City Line services to Radyr and trains to Penarth, Platform 3 is for trains to Barry Island and the Vale of Glamorgan line, Platform 4 is for trains to Coryton and Rhymney and the new Platform 5 is for trains to Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil. In the Spring of 2016, the Roll of Honour of those who served the armed forces between 1914 and 1919 from the Taff Vale Railway was put on display in the Ticket Hall. In November 2017, a

QR Code A QR code (an initialism for quick response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) invented in 1994 by the Japanese company Denso Wave. A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that can contain information about t ...

was added to give more information about the men commemorated in the roll call.

Services

Queen Street is the main hub of the Valley Lines network – a railway system serving Cardiff, the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol ...

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...

and the South Wales Valleys – and has the solitary connection to

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay ( cy, Bae Caerdydd; historically Tiger Bay; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it serves as the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely. The body of ...

. The station is located at the eastern end of the

city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

, near the Capitol Centre as well as St David's Centre, and sees heavy volumes of

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

traffic during the

rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: o ...

. The station has five utilised platforms at a level raised above the surrounding roads: Platform 5 is used for services to

Rhondda Cynon Taff Rhondda Cynon Taf (; RCT; also spelt as Rhondda Cynon Taff) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff (Welsh: ''Taf'') and Ely valleys, plus a number of towns and vill ...

(

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tyd ...

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 ...

and

Treherbert Treherbert () is a village and community situated at the head of the Rhondda Fawr valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Historically part of Glamorgan, Treherbert is a former industrial coal mining village which was at its ec ...

). Platform 4 is used for services to

Rhymney Rhymney (; cy, Rhymni ) is a town and a community in the county borough of Caerphilly, South Wales. It is within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. With the villages of Pontlottyn, Fochriw, Abertysswg, Deri and New Tredegar, Rhymney ...

and

Bargoed Bargoed ( cy, Bargod) is a town and community in the Rhymney Valley, Wales, one of the South Wales Valleys. It lies on the Rhymney River in the county borough of Caerphilly. It straddles the ancient boundary of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, wit ...

as well as Coryton in north-west Cardiff. Platform 3 is used for services towards Cardiff Central and onwards to

Barry Island Barry Island ( cy, Ynys y Barri) is a district, peninsula and seaside resort, forming part of the town of Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. It is named after the 6th century Saint Baruc. Barry's stretch of coast, on the Bristol Chan ...

and

via Rhoose Cardiff International Airport. Platform 2 is used for services towards Cardiff Central and onwards to

Penarth Penarth (, ) is a town and Community (Wales), 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 weal ...

and

Radyr Radyr ( cy, Radur) is an outer suburb of Cardiff, about northwest of Cardiff city centre. Radyr is part of Radyr and Morganstown Community, for which the 2011 Census recorded a population of 6,417. Morganstown is north of Radyr, on the oth ...

via City Line. Platform 1 is now only used for services to

, which operate every 12 minutes. The typical Monday – Saturday service per hour (as of March 2016) is as follows:GB National Rail Timetable 2015–16 Edition, Table 130 (Network Rail) Northbound (towards Coryton and the Valleys): * 6 trains per hour (tph) to

Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest (). ...

via

Cathays Cathays ( ; Welsh: officially ''Cathays'' but also , 'the constant meadow') is a district and community in the centre of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is an old suburb of Cardiff established in 1875. It is very densely populated and contain ...

and

, of which ** 2 tph continue to

** 2 tph continue to

* 4 tph to

Ystrad Mynach Ystrad Mynach is a town in the Caerphilly County Borough, within the ancient county of Glamorgan, Wales, and is north of the town of Caerphilly. The urban area has a population of 19,204, and stands in the Rhymney Valley. Before the Industr ...

, of which ** 4 tph continue to

** 1 tph continues to

* 2 tph to Coryton Southbound (towards Cardiff Central, Cardiff Bay, The Vale and to Radyr via the City Line): * 12 tph to Cardiff Central, of which ** 8 tph continue to Grangetown 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 ...

of which *** 4 tph continue to

*** 4 tph continue to

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...

, of which **** 3 tph continue to

**** 1 tph continues to

via Rhoose Cardiff International Airport ** 2 tph continue to

via the Cardiff City Line ** 2 tph terminate * 5 tph to

via the Butetown Branch Line

Notes

References

External links

{{South Wales Metro Queen Street Former Taff Vale Railway stations DfT Category C1 stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1840 Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail Adamsdown