Rhondda Tunnel

The Rhondda Tunnel is an abandoned railway tunnel that runs between the Rhondda Valley and the Afan Valley in South Wales It is 3,443 yards (3,148 m) long (the second longest railway tunnel in Wales, and the seventeenth longest in the United Kingdom), and was built by the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway.

Engineered by S W. Yockney, construction started in June 1885 from both Blaencwm in the Rhondda Valley and Blaengwynfi in the Afan Valley. Completed on 2 July 1890 it features a single 58-foot ventilation shaft around 105 yards from its western end. It is almost 1,000 feet below ground at its deepest point. The single-line tunnel split into double track on emerging from ether portal.

Underground springs ensured that the Rhondda Tunnel was very wet in places, this was channelled away via a drainage system. Coal working caused the lining to bulge and a series of reinforcement ribs were erected in 1938. Eleven years later, an inspection found the tunnel to be in excellent condition except for two sections where distortion was severe. More ribs were installed.

Further deterioration resulted in the tunnel being closed 'temporarily' on safety grounds in 1968, though it never reopened - the cost of repairs being prohibitive but this also conveniently coincided with the Beeching cuts and the two stations either side of the tunnel (Blaenrhondda and Blaengwynfi) were closed at the same time.

Following years of disuse, both of the Rhondda Tunnel's portals were finally covered over and landscaped in 1979.

The Rhondda Tunnel Society was formed in September 2014. The short-term goal of the society is to replace the tunnel's original portal stone above the entrance of the tunnel at Blaencwm. The Blaengwynfi portal stone is housed at the Afan Forest Park (formally and locally known as Afan Argoed Country Park).

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