Cathays railway station

Cathays railway station is a station on the Merthyr and Rhondda lines in the Cathays district of Cardiff, Wales. It is 1+1⁄4 miles (2 km) north of Cardiff Central.

Cathays
General information
Location	Cathays, Cardiff Wales
Coordinates	51°29′21″N 3°10′45″W
Grid reference	ST182773
Managed by	Transport for Wales
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	CYS
Classification	DfT category E
History
Original company	British Rail
Key dates
3 October 1983	Opened
Passengers
2019/20	0.965 million
2020/21	0.136 million
2021/22	0.515 million
2022/23	0.699 million
2023/24	0.823 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail & Road

The station is next to Cardiff University Students' Union and across the road from many Cardiff University buildings, as well as a short walk from the Welsh Government and other civic buildings in Cathays Park. The footbridge over the railway is much used as a shortcut between Park Place and Senghenydd Road. When Cathays opened in 1983^[1] it reversed a trend to close stations. Funded by British Rail and South Glamorgan County Council, construction commenced in April 1983, with the station opened on 3 October 1983.^[2][3]

Cathays station is now staffed during peak hours, since the introduction of a new automated ticket barrier system in summer 2007. Cathays has two platforms, each with a small shelter and an information screen displaying the next train's arrival.

The station is the seventh-most used railway station in Wales^[4] but is inaccessible to wheelchair users who wish to cross between platforms as there are no bridges or lifts.^[4] Transport for Wales has future plans to install an accessible bridge as part of the South Wales Metro project.^[4]

Services

In the daytime from Monday to Saturday, there are usually six trains an hour from Cardiff Central to Pontypridd and then either Aberdare, Treherbert or Merthyr Tydfil (every half hour to each of the latter three). Some eastbound trains continue beyond Cardiff to Barry Island (3 per hour) or Bridgend via the Vale of Glamorgan Line (hourly).^[5]

There are bus services from outside the station, including Megabus and National Express.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Cardiff Queen Street		Transport for Wales Merthyr line		Llandaf
		Transport for Wales Rhondda line

References

1. Hooper, Alan; Punter, John (2007). Capital Cardiff 1975–2020: Regeneration, Competitiveness and the Urban Environment. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 198. ISBN 9780708320631.
2. First sod at Cathays Rail Enthusiast issue 22 July 1983 page 18
3. Cathays open Rail Enthusiast issue 26 November 1983 page 18
4. Evans, Lucy (1 May 2023). "Cardiff: Disabled people's 20-year railway station access fight". BBC News. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
5. GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 130 (Network Rail)

External links

Media related to Cathays railway station at Wikimedia Commons

• Train times and station information for Cathays railway station from National Rail