Tonteg Halt railway station
Encyclopedia
Tonteg Halt refers to two railway stations serving the township of Tonteg
Tonteg
Tonteg is a village around three and a half miles from Pontypridd, south Wales. It is north west of Cardiff and four miles north east of Llantrisant. The village is within the community of Llantwit Fardre...

 in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. They were located on the Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway
Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway
The Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway was a railway located in south Wales which broadly ran between Pontypridd and Llantrisant. It opened to freight traffic in 1863 and to passenger traffic in 1875...

 and latterly on the Barry Railway under the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

.

Tonteg Halt (TVR) 1905-1930

The station on the Taff Vale/Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway was opened on 1 May 1905, originally being named Tonteg Platform; and extended in length on 7 October 1910. The station consisted of a single platform accessed via a still existing footpath from the road. Immediately to the east of the station was a small stone bridge over said road. On 1 October 1923, it was renamed Tonteg Halt. This station existed until 5 May 1930 when it was closed along with the line from Tonteg Viaduct to Llantrisant Junction because of the construction of a chord from Tonteg Viaduct to Tonteg Junction to connect with the Barry Railway. This new chord was brought into use on 5 May 1930, at the same time the chord to Llantrisant Junction closed.

Nothing remains of this halt after the construction of the Church Village bypass. According to photographs, the site was recognisable as a station, though barely around 1950.

Tonteg Halt (Barry Railway) 1905

A station called Tonteg Halt existed at Tonteg Junction on the Barry Railway for the month of May in 1905 (1.5.1905-31.5.1905). The station consisted of two platforms. A signal box existed here for Tonteg Junction.

Tonteg Halt 1930-1962

This new station opened on 5 May 1930 at Tonteg Junction after the short branch to Llantrisant Junction on the Taff Vale Railway
Taff Vale Railway
The Taff Vale Railway is a railway in Glamorgan, South Wales, and is one of the oldest in Wales. It operated as an independent company from 1836 until 1922, when it became a constituent company of the Great Western Railway...

 was closed and the route realigned through Tonteg Junction. The station consisted at this time of three platforms, one the Pontypridd-Llantrisant branch and two offset platforms on the Barry Railway. Small shelters were provided and access was from the road bridge crossing the station at this point.

There were sidings both on the Barry line to the south-west and also at the junction area to the east, these latter sidings were closed on 20 April 1958.

Trains coming from Llantrisant had no direct access across the rail junction to the Trehafod line.

The Trehafod line cloased in 1951 and was taken out of use in 1958. Two dates are given for the closure of Tonteg Halt, the first being 31 March 1952 which refers to the Pontypridd-Llantrisant platform (though according to timetables, trains still stopped here on this line), and final closure of the lines and whole station occurred on 10 September 1962.

The Barry Railway route through the station officially closed on 2 December 1963 and the Llantrisant branch on 28 September 1964.

Modern Day

The immediate area of the station still exists but the original site of Tonteg Junction and sidings have been removed for the construction of the Church Village bypass. The original station area and road bridge can be seen from Tonteg now that clearance of land, landscaping and the construction of the Church Village by-pass has been completed.

External links

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