Hirwaun railway station

Hirwaun
General information
Location	Hirwaun, Rhondda Cynon Taf Wales
Coordinates	51.7429°N 3.5071°W / 51.7429; -3.5071
Grid reference	SN960059
Platforms	3
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Vale of Neath Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Key dates
24 September 1851 (1851-09-24)	Opened as Hirwain
September 1928	Renamed Hirwaun
15 June 1964 (1964-06-15)	Closed

Railways in the Hirwaun area
Taff Vale Railway (Merthyr Line) to Cardiff Central Aberdare Trecynon Vale of Neath Railway to Merthyr Tydfil Llwydcoed Aberdare Railway Gelli Tarw Junction Hirwaun brickworks Hirwaun Tramways Barry Railway to Barry Docks Penderyn quarry Tower Colliery Hirwaun goods yard Hirwaun Common goods yard Hirwaun Ironworks Hirwaun Common railway Hirwaun Ponds goods yard Tir Herbert brickworks Rhigos Halt Brown sidings Rhigos sidings top of Glynneath bank Pencaedrain Tunnel ( 520 yd 475 m ) Dinas sidings for Pont Neath Vaughan works Penrhiw sidings for Penrhiw drift mine Pontwalby Halt Pontwalby viaduct British Rhondda Colliery British Rhondda Halt Cwmrhyd-y-Gau Halt for Abernant brickworks Rock Colliery Aberpergwm Colliery bottom of Glynneath bank Glynneath Cwmgwrach coal washery Vale of Neath Railway to Neath

Hirwaun was a railway station serving the village of Hirwaun in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.

History

The station was opened by the Vale of Neath Railway in 1851, although tramways and railways had existed in the area for at least 60+ years due to the Hirwaun Ironworks and other industries. It existed on the VoR 7 ft (2,134 mm) Brunel gauge route between Neath and Merthyr Tydfil (1853), although the branch to Aberdare opened first in 1851.

Operations

Although only a relatively small station serving an industrial community, Hirwaun was an important junction station for the VoNR. At Gelli Tarw Junction just north of the station, it merged three lines:

• Mainline from Neath to Merthyr
• Branch to Aberdare, later junctioning with the Aberdare Railway
• Dare Valley branch, initially to Bwllfa Colliery and then extended

The three platforms of the station were also supplemented by a brickworks just north of the station site. South of the station, there existed the goods yard and associated sidings, plus junctions for:

• The Hirwaun Ironworks railway
• Tower Colliery
• Penderyn quarry tramway
• Tir Herbert brickworks
• Hirwaun Common railway

Between Glynneath and Hirwaun, a distance of only 6 miles (9.7 km), there were: five collieries; two quarries; and one gunpowder/silica factory. Each had their own private sidings, all to be tackled over the steep Glynneath embankment, which required a banking locomotive for northbound trains to be attached at Glynneath. During World War II, the Royal Ordnance Factory ROF Hirwaun added to both the goods and passenger traffic load.

In 1956, the station was used by Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to the village.

Closure

Taken over by the Great Western Railway on grouping in 1923, it fell victim to the Beeching Axe in 1964, with the last train running on 13 June. However, the line itself stayed in place to Aberdare on the renamed Merthyr Line, for coal trains serving Tower Colliery and a coking plant further down the valley towards Abercynon.

Current

DB Cargo UK Class 66 loads coal at the Tower Colliery coal washing plant, located on the former Hirwaun railway station goods yard

There was a dedicated rail link bus that linked Aberdare with the community. It was only available to rail passengers, and operated to Penywaun, Hirwaun, Cefn Rhigos and Rhigos.

Although Tower's underground workings final ceased on 18 January 2008, DB Cargo UK continued to run trains to the Tower washery, which depart Aberdare at 7 pm on Wednesdays, and 1130 on the Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, most often hauled by a Class 66. This service was later taken over by Freightliner, but this service varied in schedule, again hauled by a Class 66. These services came to an end in 2017, due a reduced demand for coal, following a tightening of environmental regulations.

Reopening

Hirwaun station on the Vale of Neath Railway.

In November 2009 the Welsh Government asked Network Rail to conduct a feasibility study on reopening the line to Hirwaun for passenger services.

It was announced in March 2011 that the Welsh Government's 2011-12 capital investment programme would include the re-opening of the line to Hirwaun as part of the Cynon Valley Scheme although the project appears to have advanced little at that time. In 2019–2020, Cardiff Capital Region City Deal's Transport Authority secured £100,000 of funding from the Welsh Government's Local Transport Fund to undertake Welsh Transport Appraisal Guidance (WelTAG) 1 study into the feasibility of extending Aberdare Line passenger services through a reopened Hirwaun station to a new terminus serving the Tower strategic development site.

The line to this station has been identified by Campaign for a Better Transport as a priority 1 candidate for reopening.

A further extension of the line is also being considered to Cwmgwrach and onto Neath is also being considered, as part of the consultation for the Swansea Bay Metro Scheme.

References

• Body, G. (1983), PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Western Region, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Wellingborough, ISBN 0-85059-546-0
• Page, J. (1988), forgotten Railways: Volume 8 - South Wales (2nd Ed), David & Charles Publishers, Newton Abbott, ISBN 0-946537-44-5

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Llwydcoed		Vale of Neath Railway Mainline to Merthyr High Street, 1853		Rhigos Halt
Trecynon Halt		Vale of Neath Railway Aberdare branch to Aberdare, 1851		Terminus
Black Lion Crossing		Aberdare Railway (Taff Vale Railway)		Terminus