Taff’s Well station and tram-train depot
The Taff Vale Railway (TVR) opened its route through Taff’s Well in 1840, connecting Merthyr Tydfil to Cardiff docks.
In 1858 the Rhymney Railway opened a line from Caerphilly which joined the TVR at Taff’s Well at the new Walnut Tree Junction – the name given to the TVR’s station at the same time. You can read about the Walnut Tree place-name on our page about the Walnut Tree Junction café. The station was later Walnut Tree Bridge, then became Taffs Well in 1900.
In 1879 the TVR installed a new entrance and booking office, and an iron footbridge to replace a level crossing. The station bridge is shown in the 1980s photo, courtesy of John Davies, with the TVR’s Walnut Tree Junction Signal Box and semaphore signals. The bridge previously continued over two additional tracks to the right. A new bridge with lifts was installed in 2023-24.
In 1900 a booking clerk, telegraph clerk and porter were jailed for stealing from bags at the station. Their haul including a pistol, gold studs, dessert knives and two coins the TVR had marked when thieving was suspected.
In the early 1950s a second junction, north of the station, opened for coal trains from Nantgarw colliery diverted off the former Cardiff Railway route, which skirted Taff’s Well where you now see the A470. Both junctions were removed during the local coal industry’s demise.
The 1958 aerial photo, courtesy of the Welsh Government, shows the newer junction in the top left corner and the station near the centre. On the right is the South Wales Forgemasters complex, previously the Garth ironworks (served by sidings off the Rhymney Railway). The Welsh Government bought that site in 2017 for construction of a new depot for tram-trains, which can operate as normal trains on segregated railways and like trams along streets.
The site was cleared of buildings and contamination. The lowest photo shows the depot under construction in 2023 with some of the first tram-trains to be delivered.
Transport for Wales installed a new junction (facing the opposite direction from the original) for tram-trains to access the depot, where they are stabled overnight, serviced and maintained. The control centre on the site oversees train services across the Core Valley Lines.
Postcode: CF15 7PE View Location Map
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