Ystrad Rhondda railway station

Ystrad Rhondda railway station is a railway station serving Ystrad in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is located on the Rhondda Line. Alphabetically, it is the last station in the UK with the first being Abbey Wood station in southeast London.

Ystrad Rhondda
Ystrad Rhondda station in April 2024
General information
Location	Ystrad, Rhondda Cynon Taf Wales
Coordinates	51°38′37″N 3°28′00″W
Grid reference	SS986948
Managed by	Transport for Wales
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	YSR
Classification	DfT category F1
History
Opened	1986
Passengers
2018/19	48,906
2019/20	45,044
2020/21	9,320
2021/22	34,096
2022/23	41,016
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

View from a DMU going up the Rhondda Valley in 1962

It was first opened on this site by British Rail on the former Taff Vale Railway in 1986^[1] and is the location of the only passing loop on the section of route north of Porth, which had previously been singled by British Rail in stages between 1972 and 1981. The loop points though work automatically, with the token machines for the two single line sections operated by the train crew under the remote supervision of the signalling centre at Radyr.

Services

Monday-Saturday, there is a half-hourly service to Pontypridd & Cardiff Central southbound and to Treherbert northbound. There is a two hourly service in each direction on Sundays, with through trains southbound to Barry Island.^[2] On 20 July 2018, previous franchise operator Arriva Trains Wales announced a trial period of extra Sunday services on the Rhondda Line to Cardiff and Barry Island. This was in response to a survey by Leanne Wood and the success of extra Sunday services on the Merthyr Line and the Rhymney Line.^[3]

The service from this station is currently (summer 2023) suspended, due to major route upgrade work being carried out at multiple locations as part of the Valley Lines electrification scheme. A replacement bus service is in operation from here to Pontypridd and to Treherbert every 30 minutes, calling at all local stations until February 2024^[4]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Llwynypia		Transport for Wales Rhondda Line		Ton Pentre

References

1. Hutton, John (2006). The Taff Vale Railway, vol. 2. Silver Link. ISBN 978-1-85794-250-7.
2. GB eNRT 2015-16, Edition, Table 130
3. "Extra Sunday services between Treherbert and Barry Island". Archived from the original on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
4. South Wales Metro - Changes to train services (TfW)Transport for Wales website; Retrieved 2023-07-11

External links

• Train times and station information for Ystrad Rhondda railway station from National Rail