Cardiff Central railway station

Cardiff Central railway station (Caerdydd Canolog) is a major British railway station on the South Wales Main Line in Cardiff, Wales.

It is the largest and busiest station 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 London (30th busiest overall), based on 2007/08 total entries and exits.

It is located near the Millennium Stadium in the city centre and is one of 20 railway stations in the city and one of two in the city centre, the other being Cardiff Queen Street which are both the hubs of the Valley Lines urban rail network with several lines in Cardiff and the surrounding valleys.

Cardiff Central is a Grade II listed building managed by Arriva Trains Wales who also operate services to West Wales, Holyhead, Crewe and Manchester. First Great Western run intercity services to Bristol and London, and regional services to Bath, Taunton, Southampton and Portsmouth, whilst CrossCountry operates trains to Gloucester, Birmingham, Nottingham and Edinburgh. Cardiff Central serves as an interchange between the rest of South and West Wales to major British towns and cities. The station currently handles more trains per day than London Paddington.

British Transport Police maintain a presence at Cardiff Central. In December 2009, the force announced a three-month pilot scheme to arm officers at the station, as well as in London and Manchester, with stun guns.

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.

The station was opened by the South Wales Railway in 1850. Its successor company, the Great Western Railway (GWR), rebuilt it in 1932 as is marked by the name carved onto the façade (larger than the name of the station). As a result of representations by the GWR, a nearby working-class district, Temperance Town, was cleared during the late 1930s in order to improve the outlook of the new 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 1960s.

The station was renamed from Cardiff General on 7 May 1973.

Station layout
There are two entrances to the station. The northern main entrance leads to the station's main concourse and is on Central Square, the railway station plaza which accommodates Cardiff Central bus station, a multi-storey car park and two main city centre taxi ranks. In the panorama on exiting this way, three main city centre landmarks are visible: the Millennium Stadium, Stadium House and Southgate House.

The southern entrance is at the rear of the station on Tresillian Way, accessed from St. Mary Street, where the station's pay and display car park is found.

The railway tracks are above the station's concourses. Two subways, one each at the eastern and western side of the station, run parallel under the tracks linking the two main entrances from which the platforms are accessed by stairs and lifts, with the exception of Platform 0 which is accessed from the main concourse near Marks and Spencers. From both entrances, a valid ticket is required to pass through a barrier and gain access to the platforms.

Facilities
The majority of facilities are located on the main concourse and include ticket desks and machines, cash machines, an information desk, LED departures and arrivals screens, public telephones, WCs, a W H Smith branch, an Upper Crust take away, a sandwich bar, a Marks and Spencer Simply Food store and a branch of Burger King (on Central Square). The station has the only First Class waiting room in Wales.

Additionally, toilets, vending machines, departures and arrivals screens and waiting rooms are found on all islands. Another Upper Crust café is situated between Platforms 1 and 2.

Cycle parking is available in the Wood Street car park and at the end of Platform 3b. Cycles can be taken on most trains without a reservation, unless on CrossCountry services and rush hour trains to London Paddington when a reservation must be made at least two hours before departure.

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

Platforms 3 and 4 are divided into 'A' and 'B' sections and are capable of holding two local trains or a single HST train, other platforms at the station can be used by more than one train, but these platforms are not separately sectioned.

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. Likewise, Valley Line services coming from Cardiff Queen Street call at Platform 7 and continue to North West Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

Platforms are generally used for the same services but can change if it is not available. The normal pattern is the following.


 * Platform 0
 * Arriva Trains Wales:
 * Ebbw Vale Parkway via Rogerstone and Risca and Pontymister. These are usually operated by Class 150 'Sprinter' units


 * Platform 1
 * CrossCountry:
 * Nottingham via Birmingham New Street and Derby usually operated by Class 170 'Turbostar' units
 * Arriva Trains Wales:
 * Cheltenham Spa via Gloucester usually operated by Class 158 'Express Sprinters' that have come from Maesteg
 * First Great Western:
 * London Paddington via Bristol Parkway, Swindon and Reading usually operated by High Speed Trains that have come from Swansea


 * Platform 2
 * Arriva Trains Wales:
 * Cheltenham Spa via Gloucester usually operated by Class 158 'Express Sprinters' that have come from Maesteg.
 * Manchester Piccadilly via Newport, Hereford, Shrewsbury and Crewe usually operated by Class 175 'Coradia' units that have come from either Carmarthen or Milford Haven
 * Holyhead via Newport, Hereford, Shrewsbury, Wrexham General, Chester, Llandudno Junction and Bangor usually operated by Class 175 'Coradia' units
 * First Great Western:
 * Taunton via Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-super-Mare usually operated by Class 150 'Sprinter' units and Class 158 'Express Sprinter' units. Five of these services are operated by a Class 67 units with four MK2 coaching stock.
 * Weymouth via Bristol Temple Meads, Bath Spa, Westbury, Frome, Castle Cary and Dorchester West from January 2012 (for the Olympic Sailing Events in Weymouth Harbour)
 * Portsmouth Harbour via Bristol Temple Meads, Bath Spa, Westbury, Salisbury, Southampton Central, Fareham, Cosham, Fratton and Portsmouth and Southsea
 * CrossCountry:
 * Manchester Piccadilly via Bristol Temple Meads and Birmingham New Street usually operated by Class 221 'SuperVoyager' units


 * Platforms 3a/3b
 * Arriva Trains Wales:
 * Milford Haven/Carmarthen via Bridgend and Swansea usually operated by Coradia units that have come from Manchester Piccadilly
 * First Great Western:
 * Swansea via Bridgend, Port Talbot Parkway and Neath usually operated by High Speed Trains that have come from London Paddington


 * Platform 4a/4b
 * Arriva Trains Wales:
 * Maesteg via Pontyclun and Bridgend usually operated by Class 158 'Express Sprinter' units that have come from Cheltenham Spa
 * First Great Western
 * Terminating services from London Paddington, Taunton and Portsmouth Harbour
 * CrossCountry
 * Terminating services from Nottingham and Manchester Piccadilly.


 * Platform 6
 * Arriva Trains Wales:
 * Coryton via Cardiff Queen Street, Heath Low Level, Ty Glas, Birchgrove, Rhiwbina and Whitchurch
 * Bargoed via Cardiff Queen Street, Caerphilly and Ystrad Mynach
 * Rhymney via Cardiff Queen Street, Ystrad Mynach, Bargoed and Tir-Phil
 * Merthyr Tydfil via Cardiff Queen Street, Radyr, Pontypridd, Abercynon and Quakers Yard
 * Aberdare via Cardiff Queen Street, Radyr, Pontypridd, Abercynon and Mountain Ash
 * Treherbert via Cardiff Queen Street, Radyr, Pontypridd, Tonypandy, Llwynypia, Ystrad Rhondda, Ton Pentre, Treorchy and Ynyswen


 * Platform 7
 * Arriva Trains Wales:
 * Radyr via Ninian Park, Waun-Gron Park, Fairwater and Danescourt
 * Penarth via Grangetown and Dingle Road
 * Barry Island via Grangetown, Dinas Powys and Barry
 * Bridgend via Grangetown, Dinas Powys, Barry, Rhoose Cardiff International Airport and Llantwit Major
 * Terminating services from Treherbert

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 such as EST buses. 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
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. However, the service is currently threatened with closure, with the airport's funding being removed from 31 May 2010.

Future plans
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 resignalling and line speed improvements in South Wales, most of which would be delivered in 2010-2014. In addition to this, extra platform capacity at Cardiff Central will be introduced in the form of reopening of the bay platform (Platform 5 ) and a new through platform to the south of the station (Platforms 8).