Talbot Green - Transport

Transport

The area has good links to the rest of Wales with the A4119 linking it in the south to the M4 Motorway, and to the north to the South Wales Valleys. The Talbot Green by-pass opened in 1991 to relieve traffic in the village through disabling access to or from Pontyclun via Cowbridge Road, and provided a shorter route for the A473 Bridgend to Pontypridd Road. In September 2010, a £90m by-pass linking Talbot Green to Pontypridd was opened. The by-pass is notable for its three dormouse bridges, built to protect the endanged animals.

A single track railway runs north from Pontyclun railway station (which is the villages nearest railway station), turning west at Talbot Green to run roughly parallel to the Afon Clun, alongside the north of the A473, and originally ran to the Cwm Coking Works at Tynant, Beddau. All the original railway infrastructure remains intact between Talbot Green and Pontyclun, including the track, signals and bridges. The track is still embedded in the road where it crosses the A473, the warning lights remain at the roadside and the roadsigns warn drivers to stop if they see warning lights flash at the level crossing. A recent consultative study (Sewta Rail Strategy Study—January 2006) has considered the possibility of reopening the Pontyclun to Beddau branch line, as a passenger line rather than just for freight. This would require new stations at Talbot Green, Llantrisant, Gwaun Meisgyn and Beddau (Tynant).