Port Talbot Parkway railway station

Port Talbot Parkway National Rail
Welsh: Parcffordd Port Talbot
Platform 2 in November 2008
Location
Place Port Talbot
Local authority Neath Port Talbot
Coordinates 51°35′31″N 3°46′52″W / 51.592°N 3.781°W / 51.592; -3.781Coordinates: 51°35′31″N 3°46′52″W / 51.592°N 3.781°W / 51.592; -3.781
Grid reference SS766896
Operations
Station code PTA
Managed by Transport for Wales
Number of platforms 2
DfT category D
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2012/13 Increase 0.514 million
2013/14 Decrease 0.510 million
2014/15 Decrease 0.500 million
2015/16 Increase 0.503 million
2016/17 Increase 0.505 million
History
Original company South Wales Railway
Pre-grouping Great Western Railway
Post-grouping Great Western Railway
19 June 1850 (1850-06-19) Station opened as Port Talbot
5 June 1897 Renamed Port Talbot and Aberavon
1 July 1924 Renamed Port Talbot General
April 1947 Renamed Port Talbot
3 December 1984 Renamed Port Talbot Parkway
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Port Talbot Parkway from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal
Down Pembroke Coast Express in 1962

Port Talbot Parkway railway station is a railway station in Port Talbot, Wales. The station is located at street level near Station Road in Port Talbot town centre.

History

The first section of the South Wales Railway, that between Chepstow and Swansea, which included the station originally named Port Talbot, opened either on 18 June 1850,[1] or on 19 June 1850.[2] The station was renamed several times: to Port Talbot and Aberavon on 5 June 1897; to Port Talbot General on 1 July 1924[2] (the suffix distinguishing it from other stations in Port Talbot),[3] later reverting to the original Port Talbot in April 1947, finally becoming Port Talbot Parkway on 3 December 1984.[2]

While it now bears the title Parkway, it is not a Parkway station per se. It was named Parkway in the 1980s by British Rail when the old goods shed and yard were converted to a large car park, with freight handling moved to Margam Knuckle Yard, to encourage patronage of eastbound commuters from the Neath and Swansea Valley areas. The idea was that overall travel time could be saved by catching the train at Port Talbot instead of Neath or Swansea because of the low line speed west of Port Talbot and the limited parking at the other two stations.

There were originally two stations near to the current site, one of which was Aberavon Town, which was on the old Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway route and the other being the nearby terminus of the Port Talbot Railway named Port Talbot Central.

Facilities

The station is of the island type and has 2 platforms:

The ticket office is open seven days per week (Monday - Friday 05:30 - 18:30, Saturday 06:00 - 19:00, Sunday 10:00 - 17:30), with a self-service ticket machine provided for use outside these times and collecting advance purchase tickets. A waiting room and toilets are located on the platform, with the platform and ticket hall linked by a fully accessible footbridge with lifts (installed in 2016). Train running information is offered via CIS displays, automatic announcements and timetable posters.[4]

Future plans

Tesco planned to vacate its current store site near the Aberafan Centre and build a new store beside the station featuring a superstore, petrol station and car park. However this was rejected by the local council and the land remains undeveloped.[5] The resignalling activity in the Port Talbot area during 2006/2007 has provided a new signalled turnback facility in both directions. There are proposals for the present Transport for Wales' Swanline service, which has one train every two hours between Swansea and Cardiff Central service, to be altered to a service which terminates at Port Talbot Parkway and operate on an hourly basis between Swansea and Port Talbot Parkway.[6]

The council announced in early 2011 the plans for a new ticket office and platform bridge at the station, including a lift for disabled access and a 200 space car-park.

Redevelopment work on the station began in May 2014 and was completed in late 2016, at a cost of £11 million.[7]

Services

The station is served by both Great Western Railway main line services between London Paddington and Swansea (hourly each way with peak extras) and Transport for Wales regional trains between Milford Haven/Carmarthen and Manchester Piccadilly via Cardiff Central, Newport and Shrewsbury (also hourly), plus the two-hourly Swansea to Cardiff stopping trains.[8]

On Sundays the London - Swansea service runs hourly and the Milford Haven/Carmarthen - Manchester trains run every two hours.

Routes

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Pyle   Transport for Wales
Swanline		   Baglan
Bridgend   Transport for Wales
South Wales Main Line		   Neath
Bridgend   Transport for Wales
Swansea District Line		   Llanelli
Bridgend   Great Western Railway
London - Swansea		   Neath

Notes

  1. ↑ MacDermot, E.T. (1927). History of the Great Western Railway, vol. I: 1833-1863. Paddington: Great Western Railway. pp. 303, 563.
  2. 1 2 3 Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 190. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  3. ↑ Slater, J.N., ed. (July 1974). "Notes and News: Western's last "General"". Railway Magazine. London: IPC Transport Press Ltd. 120 (879): 361. ISSN 0033-8923.
  4. ↑ Port Talbot station facilities National Rail Enquiries
  5. ↑ Store will revitalise town not harm it, Tesco insists - Wales Online
  6. ↑ Wales Route Utilisation Strategy Draft for Consultation
  7. ↑ "Port Talbot Parkway station footbridge opens" Network Rail Media Centre press release 28 February 2016; Retrieved 21 July 2017
  8. ↑ Table 125 & 128 National Rail timetable, May 2017
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