Vale of Glamorgan Line

Vale of Glamorgan Line
A Cardiff-bound Arriva Trains Wales Class 150 passing through Aberthaw Station, which closed in 1964. At the time of the photo, the up platform track had already been lifted and the down platform track was removed later.
Overview
Type	Heavy Rail
System	Network Rail
Locale	Cardiff Bridgend county borough Vale of Glamorgan
Operation
Owner	Network Rail
Technical
Number of tracks	Double track throughout except from Bridgend to Bridgend Barry Junction, Barry South Junction to Barry Island and Cogan Junction to Penarth Gauge = 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

Double track throughout except from Bridgend to Bridgend Barry Junction, Barry South Junction to Barry Island and Cogan Junction to Penarth

The official titled Vale of Glamorgan Line is a commuter line in the United Kingdom, running through the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales, from Barry to Bridgend via Rhoose and Llantwit Major. The main line is the Barry Branch which starts at Cardiff West and runs to Barry Island with a single line branch from Cogan Junction to Penarth. In 1964, the line between Barry and Bridgend was closed by the Beeching Axe, as seen in the report 'The Reshaping of Britain's Railways', but after 41 years, in 2005, the Vale of Glamorgan branch was reopened with two new stations at Llantwit Major and Rhoose, and the disused bay platform (now '1A') at Bridgend was reinstated to act as a terminus for the Vale Line. It came to the conclusion that freight trains to/from the Ford Factory in Bridgend and Aberthaw Power Station and a detour for main line trains kept the section of track from being lifted, which saved the Vale Line. Network Rail's mileage from Barry Junction zero to Bridgend is 19. Official Network Rail engineer's line references (ELRs) for the three branches are VOG, BRY and PTH. Geographically, the Barry branch runs into Vale of Glamorgan territory at the River Ely viaduct 1½ rail miles from the Cardiff West zero. Following the dramatic rationalisation that was to come about on South Wales railways after the 1960s, a large station board at Barry had announced "Change here for the Vale of Glamorgan Line." No such sign now exists but passengers must be made aware that if they board a Bridgend train, if wishing to get to Barry Island they must change trains at Barry station. Thus if boarding a Barry Island train and wishing to travel to Rhoose (for Cardiff International Airport), Llantwit Major or Bridgend, they must change at Barry station.

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 and was known as the Vale of Glamorgan Railway. 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 the Aberthaw power stations (Aberthaw "A" in February 1966 and Aberthaw "B" station in the early 1970s) and the Ford engine plant at Bridgend in January 1980.