Treorchy railway station explained

Treorchy
Native Name:Welsh: Treorci
Symbol Location:gb
Symbol:rail
Borough:Treorchy, Rhondda Cynon Taf
Country:Wales
Grid Name:Grid reference
Manager:Transport for Wales
Platforms:1
Code:TRY
Classification:DfT category F1
Years1:27 Sept. 1869
Events1:first station opened
Years2:3 March 1884
Events2:resited
Footnotes:Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Zoom:14

Treorchy railway station is a railway station serving the town of Treorchy and village of Cwmparc in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is located on the Rhondda Line.

History

The first station in the town opened as Treorky on 27 September 1869[1] by the Taff Vale Railway, though the line had existed since 1849. It moved to its current site in 1884, and was renamed to Treorchy in 1904.[2] [3] It was subsequently taken over by the Great Western Railway as part of the Railways Act 1921.[4] [5] In 1948, it became part of British Railways Western Region. The line through the station was reduced to single track on 6 January 1972.[3]

Location and facilities

The station is on the western side of the town, on the road to the village of Cwmparc. There is a single platform, a shelter with seating and help point, and a free car park.[6]

Services

Monday-Saturday, there is a half-hourly service to Southbound and to Northbound. There is a two hourly service in each direction on Sundays. In 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 local AM Leanne Wood and the success of extra Sunday services on the Merthyr Line and the Rhymney Line.[7]

The Rhondda line is planned to be electrified. This would allow journeys from Cardiff to Treorchy to be reduced to 40 minutes, which would help boost the local economy.[8]

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, calling at all local stations until February 2024[9] Rail service will resume to the station on and from 26 February 2024 following completion of the majority of the infrastructure works.

Incidents

In January 2007, a boy was killed by an oncoming train at the station, because he was listening to an MP3 player with headphones and did not hear it approaching.[10]

Notes and References

  1. Railway Passenger Stations by M.Quick page 445
  2. Book: Hutton, John. The Taff Vale Railway, vol. 2. Silver Link. 2006 . 978-1-85794-250-7 .
  3. Web site: Taff Vale Railway (and related lines). Welsh Railways Research Centre. 4 March 2020.
  4. Book: Rhondda Through Time. Alun. Seward. David. Swidenbank. 15 April 2010. Amberley. 32. 978-1-445-63046-5.
  5. Book: Grant, Donald. Directory of the Railway Companies of Great Britain. 553. Troubador Publishing Ltd. 2017. 978-1-788-03768-6.
  6. Web site: Treorchy. National Rail Enquiries. 4 March 2020.
  7. Web site: Extra Sunday services between Treherbert and Barry Island . 19 July 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180722125917/https://arrivatrainswales-newsroom.prgloo.com/news/extra-sunday-services-between-treherbert-and-barry-island-for-the-summer . 22 July 2018 . dead .
  8. News: Secrets of 'Britain's best high street': what the rest of us can learn from a small town in the Rhondda. The Daily Telegraph. 9 February 2020. 4 March 2020.
  9. https://tfw.wales/projects/metro/service-changes South Wales Metro - Changes to train services (TfW)
  10. News: Malvern. Jack. Train kills boy listening to MP3. The Times. 29 January 2007. 20. 4 March 2020.