Swansea Vale Railway
Encyclopedia
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- Distances are shown in miles and chains from St Thomas
- Spellings are those used by the Midland Railway in 1911
- † : 0 miles 15 chains Glais Passenger to Glais Junction
- § : Swansea Vale and Neath and Brecon Joint Railway
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The Swansea Vale Railway (SVR) was a railway line connecting the port of Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
in South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
to industries and coalfields in the Swansea Valley
Swansea Valley
The Swansea Valley , one of the South Wales Valleys is the name often given to the valley of the River Tawe area in South Wales, UK. It reaches southwest and south from the Brecon Beacons National Park down to the city of Swansea. Today, administration of the area is divided between the City and...
and the Brynamman
Brynamman
Brynamman is a village sitting on the south facing side of the Black Mountain, part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The village is split in two into Upper Brynamman and Lower Brynamman by the River Amman which also acts as the boundary between the counties of Carmarthenshire and Neath Port...
district on the borders of Glamorgan
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
and Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford...
. Later additions to the route included a loop line through Morriston
Morriston
Morriston is a community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales and falls within the Morriston ward. Morriston is sometimes referred to as a distinct town , however Morriston never had a town charter, and is now part of the continuous urban area around Swansea, the centre of which lies three...
and a branch – the Swansea Vale and Neath and Brecon Joint Railway – which connected the SVR to the system of the Midland Railway Company by means of running powers over the Neath and Brecon Railway
Neath and Brecon Railway
The Neath and Brecon Railway linked the Vale of Neath Railway at Neath with the Brecon and Merthyr Railway at Brecon and also via a connection from Colbren Junction, it linked to the Swansea Vale Railway at Ynysygeinon Junction ....
. The Midland and its successor company the London, Midland and Scottish Railway
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
were the owners of the SVR from 1876 until 1947.
History
First opened in 1816 as a tramroad for conveying coal from Scott's Pit, near BirchgroveBirchgrove, Swansea
Birchgrove is a community and large village in the City and County of Swansea, Wales. It does not have a community council. The village is situated roughly from the centre of Swansea, between the flood plain of the River Tawe and Mynydd Drummau. Birchgrove also lies on the Neath Port Talbot...
, to wharves on the River Tawe
River Tawe
The River Tawe is a river in South Wales. It flows in a principally south-westerly direction for some from its source below Moel Feity in the Old Red Sandstone hills of the western Brecon Beacons to the Bristol Channel at Swansea. Its main tributaries are the right bank Upper and Lower Clydach...
nearly four miles (6 km) to the south, the Swansea Vale route grew to become a feeder railway for several mines and metal-working industries in the valley, and by 1874 it was carrying passengers between Swansea St Thomas station, Llansamlet
Llansamlet
Llansamlet is the name of an electoral ward and a coterminous community City and County of Swansea, Wales, UK. Llansamlet does not have a community council....
, Glais
Glais
Glais is a small semi-rural village located in Swansea and is host to a site of Special Scientific Interest in the United Kingdom. With a pristine example of glacial moraine in the south of the village's boundaries the location is one of over a thousand sites in Wales that is officially designated...
, Pontardawe
Pontardawe
Pontardawe is a town of some 5,000 inhabitants in the Swansea Valley in south Wales...
, Ystradgynlais
Ystradgynlais
Ystradgynlais is a town on the River Tawe in south west Powys; it is the second largest town in Powys, Wales. The town grew around the iron-making, coal-mining and watch-making industries....
(on the Swansea Vale and Neath and Brecon Junction Railway), Ystalyfera
Ystalyfera
Ystalyfera is a former industrial village in the upper Swansea Valley, on the River Tawe, about north-east of Swansea. It is an electoral ward and a community in the unitary authority of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, comprising a resident population of just over 3,000 people, approximately 60% of whom...
, and Brynamman
Brynamman
Brynamman is a village sitting on the south facing side of the Black Mountain, part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The village is split in two into Upper Brynamman and Lower Brynamman by the River Amman which also acts as the boundary between the counties of Carmarthenshire and Neath Port...
. The railway was leased in 1874 by the Midland Railway and purchased outright by that company two years later in order to give the Midland access to Swansea docks
Swansea docks
Swansea Docks is the collective name for several docks in Swansea, Wales. The Swansea docks are located immediately south east of Swansea city centre. In the mid-19th century the port was exporting 60% of the world's copper from factories situated in the Tawe valley...
bypassing the routes of rival railway companies.
In 1923, most of Britain's railways were merged
Railways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...
into the "Big Four" companies and many of the alternative routes which had arisen through competition were run down. Additionally, as the importance of Swansea port and Swansea Valley industries declined between the 1930s and 1960s, so too did traffic on the line. Direct passenger services to Brecon
Brecon
Brecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...
via the SVR ceased in 1931 and to Brynamman in 1950, with the last freight services over the southern part of the line from Swansea to Pontardawe finally being withdrawn in 1964 – so that by 1970 all that remained was rusting rails and earthworks.
Preservation
With the assistance of Swansea city council the Swansea Valley Railway Society, based in PentrechwythPentrechwyth
Pentrechwyth is a village in Swansea, Wales falling within the Bon-y-maen ward. The village approximates to the built up area around Jersey Road just uphill from the junction with the A4217 road and most recently the Copper Quarter development on the old Addis site....
, was able to purchase the last remaining section of intact track between Upper Bank (close to Morfa industrial estate) and Six Pit (now renamed Nantyffin Road). It is an indication of the scale of change in Swansea that a former industrial railway now runs between a large shopping centre and the main sports stadium for the city.
In 2007 Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
council took the decision to redevelop the area and declined to renew the lease on the railway. In part this decision was reached because the state of the railway and the costs to put it right were considerable. In addition the value of the land in question had risen from almost worthless industrial land to prime development as the city expanded. At this point in time it is not clear what will happen to the many important pieces of heritage such as Kings Dock signal box or whether they will simply be flattened and sold to developers. In 2009 Swansea Valley Railway Society had negotiated a merger with the Gwili Railway in Carmarthen, and had taken most of their stock and rail with them. Swansea Valley Railway Society is now part of the Gwili Railway
Gwili Railway
The Gwili Steam Railway operates a standard gauge preserved railway from Abergwili Junction in South Wales along a short section of the former Carmarthen to Aberystwyth railway that closed for passenger traffic in 1965, the track being lifted in 1975.The Gwili Railway was formed in 1974 and, by...
.