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Cardiff Bay railway station

Coordinates:51°28′02″N3°09′59″W/ 51.4671°N 3.1665°W/51.4671; -3.1665
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Cardiff Bay

Welsh:Bae Caerdydd
National Rail
Cardiff Bay railway station (May 2018)
General information
LocationCardiff Bay,Cardiff
Wales
Coordinates51°28′02″N3°09′59″W/ 51.4671°N 3.1665°W/51.4671; -3.1665
Grid referenceST190748
Managed byTransport for Wales
Platforms1
Other information
Station codeCDB
ClassificationDfT categoryF1
Key dates
9 October 1840Line opened
December 1844Station opened as Cardiff Bute Dock
1845Renamed Cardiff Docks
1 July 1924Renamed Cardiff Bute Road
26 September 1994Renamed Cardiff Bay
Passengers
2018/19Increase1.531 million
2019/20Decrease1.463 million
2020/21Decrease88,028
2021/22Increase0.315 million
2022/23Increase0.511 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from theOffice of Rail and Road

Cardiff Bay railway station(Welsh:Bae Caerdydd), formerlyCardiff Bute Road,is astationserving theCardiff BayandButetownareas ofCardiff,Wales. It is the southernterminusof theButetown branch line1 mile (1.5 km) south ofCardiff Queen Street.

Only one platform is now in use. The station building lies onBute Street,although the rest of the station remains visible from the nearbyLloyd George Avenue.For various reasons, including it being the origin of the first steam-powered passenger train service in Wales, the station is a Grade II*listed building.[1]

Passenger services are provided byTransport for Wales.

History[edit]

The line to the docks was opened on 9 October 1840 but the station was not mentioned in Bradshaw's railway timetables until December 1844. It was opened as Cardiff Bute Dock but the name was changed to Cardiff Docks in 1845 by theTaff Vale Railway(engineer:Isambard Kingdom Brunel).

The station building came into use in 1843 and was the head office of the TVR until 1862, when new offices were built at Queen Street.[1]After this it was let to the consulates of the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal and Brazil, with separate flagpoles provided for each nation.

The station was renamed Cardiff Bute Road by theGreat Western Railwayon 1 July 1924 and given its present name in 1994.[2]

Renovation of station building[edit]

Use as a railway museum[edit]

Sir Gomeroperating steam train rides along the length of the platform in the early 1990s

The building was restored in the 1980s and served for a time as a railway museum under the auspices of theNational Museums and Galleries of Walesand the Butetown Historical Railway Society (which in 1997 relocated its activities to theVale of Glamorgan Railway).[3]Following this, the station building had become derelict, with train passengers using a temporary shelter.

Residential and commercial property[edit]

Complete restoration of the former station building (2020)

In August 2017, plans were approved to renovate and convert the derelict 1840s building, and construct a four-storey building alongside it. The new building would house 10 flats, offices and a cafe. The Victorian Society said the Bute Street station was one of the oldest and most significant railway structures in Wales and in the previous year appeared on its list of the 10 most endangered buildings. It said it supported a sensitive restoration scheme but the current proposal would cause a "high degree of harm to the building and its setting".[4]The first stage of the development opened in June 2019.[5]

Services[edit]

TheClass 121single-unit "bubble car" (May 2007)
TheClass 153single-unit "super sprinter” (June 2019)

There is a shuttle service between Cardiff Queen Street and Cardiff Bay every 12 minutes Monday to Saturdays (between 0630 and 2330) and every 12 minutes on Sundays (between 1100 and 1630) usingClass 153 Sprinters.Some services were operated by aClass 121"bubble car" until it was withdrawn in June 2013.

Preceding station National RailNational Rail Following station
Cardiff Queen Street Transport for Wales
Butetown branch line
 Terminus
Future services
Butetown Transport for Wales
Butetown branch line
 Terminus

Modernisation[edit]

In June 2018, the then future Welsh train operating companyKeolisAmey Walesannounced plans to build a line extension and a terminus station,The Flourish(since renamed back to Cardiff Bay) for theButetown Branch,along with an intermediate station atLoudoun Square.[6]This station would have completely replaced the existing station, which would have closed.

Plans have since been revised, and in August 2022 it was proposed to construct the two-platform Loudoun Square station further to the north, and to retain Cardiff Bay station in its present location, but to add a second platform. The station will be served by more frequent tram-train vehicles from spring 2024. The line will form part of theSouth Wales Metro.[7]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abCadw."Cardiff Bay Station (Grade II*) (13963)".National Historic Assets of Wales.Retrieved2 April2019.
  2. ^Quick, Michael (2009).Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain - A Chronology.Railway & Canal Historical Society.ISBN9780901461575.
  3. ^Hutton, John (2006).The Taff Vale Railway, vol. 1.Silver Link.ISBN9781857942491.
  4. ^"Station revamp and flats plan approved".16 August 2017.Retrieved3 November2019– via www.bbc.co.uk.
  5. ^"'Most endangered' railway building saved ".17 June 2019.Retrieved3 November2019– via www.bbc.co.uk.
  6. ^"New trains and more services in £5bn deal".BBC News.4 June 2018.Retrieved25 October2018.
  7. ^"Cardiff to get a new railway station with work beginning this year".WalesOnline.15 August 2022.Retrieved16 August2022.

External links[edit]

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