Cardiff Queen Street Railway Station - Services

Services

Queen Street is the main hub of the Valley Lines network - a railway system serving Cardiff, the Vale of Glamorgan, Bridgend and the South Wales Valleys - and has the solitary connection to Cardiff Bay. The station is located at the eastern end of the city centre, near the Capitol Centre, and sees heavy volumes of commuter rail traffic during the rush hour.

The station has three utilised platforms at a level raised above the surrounding roads. Platform 1 is used for services to Aberdare, Merthyr Tydfil, Treherbert, Rhymney and Bargoed as well as Coryton in the east of Cardiff. Platform 2 is used for services towards Cardiff Central and beyond towards Penarth, Radyr via City Line, Barry Island and Bridgend via Rhoose Cardiff International Airport. Platform 3 is now only used for services to the Bay and is usually operated by Arriva Trains Wales's single Class 121 'Bubble' Car unit 121032. The fourth platform, currently not in use, may be reopened in the future to reduce the bottleneck in Valley Line services at Cardiff Central and Queen Street.

The typical Monday - Saturday service per hour (as of 2009) is as follows:

Northbound (towards Coryton and the Valleys):

• 6 trains per hour (tph) to Pontypridd via Cathays and Radyr, of which
  • 2 tph continue to Aberdare
  • 2 tph continue to Merthyr Tydfil
  • 2 tph continue to Treherbert
• 4 tph to Ystrad Mynach, of which
  • 3 tph continue to Bargoed
  • 1 tph continues to Rhymney
• 2 tph to Coryton

Southbound (towards Cardiff Central, Cardiff Bay, The Vale and to Radyr via the City Line):

• 2 tph terminate at Cardiff Central
• 4 tph to Penarth
• 4 tph to Barry, of which
  • 3 tph continue to Barry Island
  • 1 tph continues to Bridgend via Rhoose Cardiff International Airport
• 2 tph to Radyr via the Cardiff City Line
• 5 tph to Cardiff Bay