Vale of Glamorgan Line - History

History

Originally part of the Barry Railway Company, the line opened from 1885. The whole of the Barry Railway, including Barry Docks, became a constituent part of the Great Western Railway in 1923, after the railway grouping. Local traffic on the line included that from the limestone quarries and the cement works at Aberthaw, and Rhoose cement works at the eastern end of the line. Wartime traffic was created from Tremains and Brackla Hill at Bridgend and the RAF base at St. Athan. More recent developments were the opening of Aberthaw power station in February 1966 and the Ford engine plant at Bridgend in January 1980.

The Barry-Bridgend passenger service finished on 13 June 1964 as part of the Beeching cuts, but passenger trains on the eastern part of the line from Cardiff-Barry continued, and the western section continued to be used by through passenger trains between Cardiff and Bridgend when the main line via Pontyclun was closed. This still frequently happens at night and on Sundays and train operators ran empty coaching stock and empty mail trains via this route to retain train crew route knowledge.

By the late 1990s, a daily train runs between Ford’s plants at Dagenham and Bridgend and merry-go-round coal trains run between Onllwyn and Cwmgwrach (to the west), Tower Colliery, Newport Docks and Avonmouth (to the east), to Aberthaw power station averaging some 10 trains a day. Rhoose cement works has closed, and a connection is retained to Aberthaw cement works where wagons are stored.

There remained a mainline connection with the heritage operation of the Barry Island Railway Centre just outside Barry Station, with the exchange available to Barry Island.