Ystrad Mynach railway station 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 town of

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 ...

, south

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 ...

. It is a stop on the Rhymney Line of the

Valley Lines 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 Glam ...

network. The nearest bus interchange is

Blackwood Interchange Blackwood Interchange ( cy, Cyfnewidfa Coed Duon) is a bus station located in the town centre of Blackwood, Caerphilly, South Wales. It is situated on Gordon Road adjacent to the High Street. Background The existing Blackwood Bus Station ...

, away. From 2020, the

rail linc rail linc ( cy, linc trên) is a brand name applied to routes formerly operating under the now-defunct South East Wales Transport Alliance- but now operating under NAT Group. History In a number of cases, the services were set up sometime aft ...

bus (901) that links with the train no longer operated. It operated to

Maesycwmmer Maesycwmmer ( cy, Maesycwmer) is a village and community in the centre of Caerphilly County Borough in Wales, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. Location Maesycwmmer is located north of Caerphilly, on the east bank of the Rh ...

Pontllanfraith Pontllanfraith ( cy, Pontllanfraith ) is a large village and community located in the Sirhowy Valley in Caerphilly County Borough, Wales, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. It is situated adjacent to the town of Blackwood, with ...

, and ended at Blackwood.

History

Ystrad Mynach

was on the Rhymney Railway opened in 1858. It consisted of staggered platforms on the main line, as well as a separate platform on the Dowlais line. Nearby Penallta Junction gave access to 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 ...

and the Aberdare Valley, opened 1 April 1871 and the Cylla branch opened on 1 August 1906 to access the new

Powell Duffryn Powell may refer to: People * Powell (surname) * Powell (given name) * Powell baronets, several baronetcies *Colonel Powell (disambiguation), several military officers *General Powell (disambiguation), several military leaders * Governor Powell ...

owned Penallta Colliery. The latter line closed in 1991 and has since been lifted, but the former is still in use (for freight only) as far as Cwmbargoed to serve the coal washery and associated opencast mine at

Ffos-Y-Fran The Ffos-y-fran Land Reclamation Scheme is a major opencast coaling operation to the north-east of Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales. The contracted excavator/reclaiming company is Merthyr (South Wales) Ltdprev Miller Argent, which is owned by Gwent I ...

. Coal from there is sent to Aberthaw Power Station in bulk trainloads. In 2014, the station underwent a £1.6 million refurbishment with new ticket machines, waiting areas and ticket office, with disabled toilet being installed in addition to major work carried out on the footbridge with lifts being installed to improve accessibility. The northbound platform is signalled for use in both directions, to permit trains from Cardiff to terminate & start back from there. Ystrad Mynach railway station was used as a location in the pilot episode of ''

Porridge Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...

'' ( Prisoner and Escort), part of the series ''

Seven of One ''Seven of One'' was a British comedy series that aired on BBC2 in 1973. Starring Ronnie Barker, ''Seven of One'' was a series of seven separate comedies that would serve as possible pilots for sitcoms. Originally it was to be called ''Six o ...

'', starring

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and '' Open All Hours''. ...

Service

The station has a frequent weekday service in both directions - northbound there are four trains each hour to (one service terminates here during the autumn leaf fall period), with hourly extensions to (extras at peak times) on Mondays to Saturday daytimes, whilst southbound there are four trains per hour to and . Connections for and 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 ...

(as well as main line destinations further afield) are available at Cardiff Central. In the evening, there is an hourly service to Rhymney & Cardiff/Penarth and on Sundays there is a two-hourly service each way, with southbound trains running to Barry Island.

References

External links

{{South Wales Metro Railway stations in Caerphilly County Borough DfT Category E stations Former Rhymney Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1858 Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail