Cardiff Central railway station
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Cardiff Central
Caerdydd Canolog
Frontage of Cardiff Central station
Location
Place	Cardiff
Local authority	City and County of Cardiff
Operations
Station code	CDF
Managed by	Arriva Trains Wales
Owned by	Network Rail
Platforms in use	7
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail
Annual Rail Passenger Usage
2004/05 *	7.743 million
2005/06 *	8.358 million
2006/07 *	9.127 million
History
1850 1932	Opened Rebuilt
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Cardiff Central from Office of Rail Regulation statistics.
UK Railways Portal

Railways in Central Cardiff

Legend To Rhymney To Coryton Heath Low Level/Heath High Level (Interchange) To Pontypridd Llandaf Cathays Danescourt Fairwater Waun-Gron Park To Bridgend Cardiff Queen Street (Interchange) Ninian Park To Newport and England Cardiff Central (Interchange) Cardiff Riverside Canal Parade goods depot Bute West docks Bute East docks (Atlantic Wharf) East Moors depot Cardiff Bay Grangetown Roath docks Cardiff Bay quayside Queen Alexandra docks Penarth Flats docks Penarth Moors docks To Barry and Rhoose Cardiff Airport To Penarth

Cardiff Central railway station (Welsh: Caerdydd Canolog) is a major British railway station on Central Square in Cardiff, Wales.

It is the largest in Cardiff itself and in Wales. It is one of major stations of the British rail network, being the tenth busiest station in the United Kingdom, outside of London^[1].

Cardiff Central is a major hub for the Valley Lines suburban services (several lines in Cardiff and the surrounding valleys), Arriva Trains Wales, First Great Western Intercity services to Bristol and London, and CrossCountry services to Nottingham and Newcastle upon Tyne via Birmingham New Street, Sheffield and York. It serves as an interchange between the rest of South and West Wales to major English and Scottish towns and cities.

The station is operated by Arriva Trains Wales and was known as Cardiff General until 7 May 1973^[2]. It is located near the Millennium Stadium on Central Square in the city centre. It is one of 21 railway stations in the city, and one of the two main stations, the other being Cardiff Queen Street.

The whole station including the Water Tower close to platform 0 is Grade II listed.

History

In the early 1840s the South Wales Railway were trying to find a suitable site for a new railway station, however, the area that is now Cardiff Central railway station was prone to flooding. It was Isambard Kingdom Brunel's solution to divert the River Taff further to the west, this created a larger and safer site for the building of the new railway station.^[3]

The station was opened by the South Wales Railway in 1850. Its successor company, the Great Western Railway, rebuilt it in 1932 as is marked by the name carved onto the façade (larger than the name of the station). The formerly separate Cardiff Riverside suburban station of 1893 was integrated into the main station in 1940 but its platforms ceased to be used for passenger traffic in the 1960s^[4].

Station layout

The railway station plaza, Central Square, accommodates Cardiff central bus station.

There are two entrances, the first and main of which, is on Central Square and accessed from Wood Street, adjacent to Cardiff central bus station and two main taxi ranks. This entrance leads to the station's main concourse.

The other entrance is at the rear of the station, accessed from Tresillian Way / St. Mary Street, where the station's car park is found. The railway tracks are above the two subways, which run parallel under the tracks linking the two main entrances and the platforms are accessed by stairs and lifts. From both entrances, a valid ticket is required to pass through a barrier and gain access to the platforms.

Facilities

The majority of facilities are located on the main concourse. These include:

• Ticket Desks and Machines
• Cash Machines
• Information Desk
• Telephones
• WCs
• W H Smith
• Upper Crust Take Away
• Sandwich Bar
• Marks and Spencer Simply Food
• Burger King (on Central Square)
• Starbucks

Toilets, vending machines and waiting rooms are found on all islands. An Upper Crust café is situated on platforms 1 and 2.

Cycle parking is available in the Wood Street car park. Cycles can be taken on most trains without a reservation, unless on CrossCountry services and trains to London Paddington when a reservation must be made at least two hours before departure.

Platforms

The seven platforms are arranged in four islands, 0; 1/2; 3a,3b/4a,4b; and 6/7. There is no Platform 5 but there clearly was previously a bay platform at the west end between platforms 3 & 4), with a side platform.

Platform 0 is not accessible from the subways but from a separate staircase at the west end of the main concourse. Services to Nottingham and Ebbw Vale Parkway usually depart from here.

Services from Platform 1 & 2 usually depart to London Paddington via Bristol Parkway, Holyhead via Shrewsbury, Manchester Piccadilly via Shrewsbury, Portsmouth Harbour via Bristol Temple Meads and Taunton via Bristol Temple Meads. Late evening services to Nottingham via Birmingham New Street and Ebbw Vale Parkway also depart from here. All Eastbound Trains except Ebbw Vale services call at Newport.

Platforms 3 and 4 are divided into 'a' and 'b' sections and are thus capable of holding two local trains or a single HST train. Unlike at Birmingham New Street, however these are not separately signalled and it is not uncommon for the other platforms to be used by more than one train. Services to Swansea, Carmarthen, Milford Haven, Pembroke Dock and Fishguard Harbour usually depart from Platforms 3 / 4 or 3A / 4A depending on the length of train. Services to Maesteg depart from platforms 3A or 4A. Occasionally Ebbw Vale Parkway trains start at Platforms 3B or 4B when there is a delay on an inbound service on the line.

Platforms 6 and 7 are towards the south of the station and usually handle all Valley Lines services to stations within Cardiff and in the South Wales Valleys. Eastbound services leave from Platform 6, such as Cardiff Queen Street, Cathays, Coryton, Pontypridd, Caerphilly, Aberdare, Treherbert, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney. Westbound services, such as to Penarth, Barry Island, Rhoose Cardiff International Airport, Bridgend, Fairwater and Radyr, leave from Platform 7.

Destinations

Arriva Trains Wales

• Cheltenham Spa via Gloucester
• Manchester Piccadilly via Newport, Hereford, Shrewsbury and Crewe
• Holyhead via Newport, Hereford, Shrewsbury, Wrexham General and Chester
• Milford Haven via Bridgend, Swansea and Carmarthen

Cardiff & Valley Suburban services

• Radyr via Fairwater
• Coryton via Heath and Rhiwbina
• Ebbw Vale Parkway via Rogerstone and Newbridge
• Maesteg via Pontyclun and Bridgend
• Merthyr Tydfil via Cardiff Queen Street, Pontypridd and Abercynon
• Aberdare via Cardiff Queen Street, Llandaf, Pontypridd and Abercynon
• Treherbert via Cardiff Queen Street, Llandaf, Pontypridd and Ystrad
• Rhymney via Cardiff Queen Street, Llanishen, Caerphilly and Ystrad Mynach
• Bridgend via Barry and Rhoose Cardiff International Airport and Llantwit Major
• Penarth via Grangetown and Dingle Road

CrossCountry

• Nottingham via Newport, Cheltenham Spa, Birmingham New Street and Derby usually operated by Turbostars
• Newcastle upon Tyne via Newport, Bristol Temple Meads, Bristol Parkway, Birmingham New Street, Sheffield and York usually operated by a Cross Country Voyager

First Great Western

• London Paddington via Newport, Bristol Parkway and Swindon using High Speed Trains
• Portsmouth Harbour via Newport, Bristol Temple Meads, Bath Spa and Southampton Central usually operated by Express Sprinters
• Taunton via Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-super-Mare, usually operated by Sprinter units or Pacer units
• Swansea via Bridgend and Port Talbot Parkway using High Speed Trains

Cardiff Central bus station

Main article: Cardiff Central bus station

Cardiff Central bus station is the central point of reference for all local and national bus services in Cardiff. The terminal contains six covered ranks on the north side for most Cardiff Bus as well as other services. Long-distance services to the valleys and coach services, e.g. TrawsCambria and National Express, run from rank A at the north end. Stops either side of Wood Street, which runs alongside the main terminal, are used mainly for departures to Barry, Penarth, Heath Hospital, Cardiff Bay, Caerau, Ely and Tremorfa.

The railway station also has a dedicated bus stop on the south side of the station, referred to as "rear of the station" by station staff. On National Rail departure boards this is sometimes referred to as Cardiff Central Bus Stn CCB. The stop is also used for Rail Replacement services and Cardiff Bus BayCar service.

Buses run weekdays from early morning (around 05:00) to late at night, the last services leaving at 23:20 on almost all major routes.

Cardiff International Airport rail link

Cardiff International Airport is situated 12 miles east of Cardiff city centre. In 2005, a section of the Vale of Glamorgan Line was re-opened between Barry and Bridgend. Ever since, there have been services to Rhoose Cardiff International Airport railway station once every hour for most of the day (Monday-Saturday) and a two-hourly service on Sunday. At the airport station, passengers must take additional transport. There is a free shuttle provided to take passengers to the main terminal. Buses to and from the airport appear on the National Rail Enquiries website.

Future plans

Traffic levels on the London Paddington route are rising faster than national average, with continued increases predicted. The now defunct Strategic Rail Authority produced a Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) for the Great Western Main Line in 2005 to propose ways of meeting this demand, Network Rail plan to implement a new study in 2008. In the meantime, their 2007 Business Plan includes the provision of extra platform capacity at Cardiff Central (as well as Newport and Bristol Parkway), also resignalling and line speed improvements in South Wales, most of which would be delivered in 2010-2014.

Gallery

Cardiff General in May 1970	A mosaic outside the station	The Concourse looking west	The Subway
The view from the eastern end of platform 3 & 4

See also

• List of railway stations in Wales
• Transport in Wales

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Cardiff Central railway station

• Train times and station information for Cardiff Central railway station from National Rail