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Cardiff Central
Caerdydd Canolog
Frontage of Cardiff Central station
Location
Place Cardiff
Local authority City and County of Cardiff
Coordinates 51°28′32″N 3°10′41″W / 51.4755, -3.1780Coordinates: 51°28′32″N 3°10′41″W / 51.4755, -3.1780
Operations
Station code CDF
Managed by Arriva Trains Wales
Owned by Network Rail
Platforms in use 7
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 * 7.743 million
2005/06 * 8.358 million
2006/07 * 9.127 million
History
1850
1932		 Opened
Rebuilt
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Cardiff Central from Office of Rail Regulation statistics.
Railways in Central Cardiff
LUECKE
To Rhymney
HLUECKE STRlg STR
To Coryton
CPICl CPICr
Heath Low Level/High Level (Interchange)
ABZ3lg HSTR STRlg STRlf ABZlg
To Pontypridd
STR HST STR
Llandaf
STR HST STR
Cathays
HST STR STR
Danescourt
HST STR STR
Fairwater
HST STRlf HSTR ABZlg
Waun-Gron Park
KRZo STRlg STR
To Bridgend
STR STR BHF
Cardiff Queen Street (Interchange)
HST STR STR
Ninian Park
ABZrg STRrf STR STRrg
To Newport and England
ABZld HWBRÜCKE eABZ3lg HBHF KRZorf ABZ3rg ABZrf
Cardiff Central (Interchange)
STR exHST STRrg STRrf STR STR
Cardiff Riverside
STR exDST STR exSTRrg eABZrf STR
Canal Parade goods depot
STR exSTR STR exKDSe STR STR
Bute West docks
STR exSTR STR DST STR
Bute East docks (Atlantic Wharf)
STR exSTR STR STR DST
East Moors depot
STR exSTR xHSTe STR STR
Cardiff Bay
HST exABZrg exABZ3lf exHWBRÜCKE xABZ3lf ABZrf
Grangetown
eABZlf exSTRlg exSTR DST
Roath docks
STR exSTR exKDSe STRrg HWBRÜCKE ABZrf
Cardiff Bay quayside
STR exSTR BOOT KDSe KDSe
Queen Alexandra docks
STR exKDSe
Penarth Flats docks
eABZlf exKDSl
Penarth Moors docks
ABZrf FLUG
To Barry and Rhoose Cardiff Airport
LUECKE
To Penarth


Cardiff Central railway station (Welsh: Caerdydd Canolog) is a major British railway station on Central Square in Cardiff, Wales.

It is the largest and busiest in Cardiff itself and in Wales. It is one of the major stations of the British rail network, being the tenth busiest station in the United Kingdom, outside of London1.

The station is managed by Arriva Trains Wales who operate most services. First Great Western and CrossCountry also serve the station. It is a major hub for the Valley Lines suburban services (several lines in Cardiff and the surrounding valleys), First Great Western Intercity services to Bristol and London, and CrossCountry services to Nottingham and Edinburgh. It serves as an interchange between the rest of South and West Wales to major English and Scottish towns and cities.

The station was known as Cardiff General until 7 May 19732. It is located near the Millennium Stadium on Central Square in the city centre. It is one of 21 railway stations in the city, and one of the two main stations, the other being Cardiff Queen Street.

The whole station including the Water Tower close to platform 0 is Grade II listed.

Contents

History

In the early 1840s the South Wales Railway were trying to find a suitable site for a new railway station, however, the area that is now Cardiff Central railway station was prone to flooding. It was Isambard Kingdom Brunel's solution to divert the River Taff further to the west, this created a larger and safer site for the building of the new railway station.3

The station was opened by the South Wales Railway in 1850. Its successor company, the Great Western Railway, rebuilt it in 1932 as is marked by the name carved onto the façade (larger than the name of the station). The formerly separate Cardiff Riverside suburban station of 1893 was integrated into the main station in 1940 but its platforms ceased to be used for passenger traffic in the 1960s4.

Station layout

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The railway station plaza, Central Square, accommodates Cardiff central bus station.

There are two entrances, the first and main of which, is on Central Square and accessed from Wood Street, adjacent to Cardiff central bus station and two main taxi ranks. This entrance leads to the station's main concourse.

The other entrance is at the rear of the station, accessed from Tresillian Way / St. Mary Street, where the station's car park is found. The railway tracks are above the two subways, which run parallel under the tracks linking the two main entrances and the platforms are accessed by stairs and lifts. From both entrances, a valid ticket is required to pass through a barrier and gain access to the platforms.

Facilities

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The majority of facilities are located on the main concourse. These include:

Toilets, vending machines and waiting rooms are found on all islands. An Upper Crust café is situated on platforms 1 and 2.

Cycle parking is available in the Wood Street car park. Cycles can be taken on most trains without a reservation, unless on CrossCountry services and trains to London Paddington when a reservation must be made at least two hours before departure.

Platforms

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Cardiff Central currently has seven platforms, numbered 0, 1, 2, 3a/b, 4a/b, 6 and 7. There is no platform 5; this was previously a west-facing bay platform situated between platforms 4 and 6.5

Platform 0

Platform 0 is not accessed by the main subways to the platforms, it is accessed by a staircase at the west of the station next to the Marks and Spencer store. Platform 0 is mainly used for the following services:

CrossCountry:

Arriva Trains Wales:

Platform 1

Platform 1 is mainly used for the following services:

Arriva Trains Wales:

CrossCountry:

First Great Western:

Platform 2

Platform 2 is used for the following services:

Arriva Trains Wales:

CrossCountry:

First Great Western:

Platforms 3a/3b

Platforms 3 and 4 are divided into 'A' and 'B' sections and are thus capable of holding two local trains or a single HST train. Unlike at Birmingham New Street, however, these are not separately signalled and it is not uncommon for the other platforms to be used by more than one train.Platform 3 is used for the following services:

Arriva Trains Wales:

First Great Western:

Platform 4a/4b

Platform 4 mainly acts as a terminus platform but can be used as a spare for platform 3 if for whatever reason the latter is unavailable. The following services that depart from platform 4 are:

Arriva Trains Wales:

First Great Western and CrossCountry services from London Paddington and Nottingham respectively will terminate at platform 4. Also the 14:22 CrossCountry service from Newcastle which arrives at Cardiff Central at 20:19 will terminate at platform 4.

CrossCountry:

Platform 6

Platform 6 is used for Valley Lines services to the north and east of Cardiff and to the Valleys. Every single train that departs from platform 6 will call at Cardiff Queen Street. The following services that depart from platform 6 are:

Arriva Trains Wales:

Platform 7

Platform 7 is used for Valley Lines services to the west of Cardiff and services to the Vale of Glamorgan. The following services that depart from platform 6 are:

Arriva Trains Wales:

Platform 7 is also used for services from Treherbert that terminate at Cardiff Central.

Destinations

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Arriva Trains Wales

Cardiff & Valley Suburban services

CrossCountry

First Great Western

Cardiff Central bus station

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Main article: Cardiff Central bus station

Cardiff Central bus station is the central point of reference for all local and national bus services in Cardiff. The terminal contains six covered ranks on the north side for most Cardiff Bus as well as other services. Long-distance services to the valleys and coach services, e.g. TrawsCambria and National Express, run from rank A at the north end. Stops either side of Wood Street, which runs alongside the main terminal, are used mainly for departures to Barry, Penarth, Heath Hospital, Cardiff Bay, Caerau, Ely and Tremorfa.

The railway station also has a dedicated bus stop on the south side of the station, referred to as "rear of the station" by station staff. On National Rail departure boards this is sometimes referred to as Cardiff Central Bus Stn CCB. The stop is also used for Rail Replacement services and Cardiff Bus BayCar service.

Buses run weekdays from early morning (around 05:00) to late at night, the last services leaving at 23:20 on almost all major routes.

Cardiff International Airport rail link

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Cardiff International Airport is situated 12 miles east of Cardiff city centre. In 2005, a section of the Vale of Glamorgan Line was re-opened between Barry and Bridgend. Ever since, there have been services to Rhoose Cardiff International Airport railway station once every hour for most of the day (Monday-Saturday) and a two-hourly service on Sunday. At the airport station, passengers must take additional transport. There is a free shuttle provided to take passengers to the main terminal. Buses to and from the airport appear on the National Rail Enquiries website.

Future plans

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Traffic levels on the London Paddington route are rising faster than national average, with continued increases predicted. The now defunct Strategic Rail Authority produced a Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) for the Great Western Main Line in 2005 to propose ways of meeting this demand, Network Rail plan to implement a new study in 2008. In the meantime, their 2007 Business Plan includes the provision of extra platform capacity at Cardiff Central (as well as Newport and Bristol Parkway), also resignalling and line speed improvements in South Wales, most of which would be delivered in 2010-2014.

Gallery

Cardiff General
in May 1970
A mosaic outside the station
The Concourse looking west
The Subway
The view from the eastern end of platform 3 & 4
  Preceding station     National Rail     Following station  
Cardiff Queen Street   Arriva Trains Wales
Radyr - Coryton		   N