Abercynon Station – 28th November 2023
On Tuesday, I went to South Wales to look at the progress of the South Wales Metro.
I took these pictures at Abercynon station.
Note.
- The station has a wide island platform.
- The Aberdare and the Merthyr Tydfil branches merge here.
- It was rather draughty.
- The electrification looks to be of high quality.
This OpenRalwayMap shows the tracks through the station.
Note.
- Electrified lines are shown in red.
- Unelectrified lines are shown in black.
- The single-track going North is the Aberdare branch.
- The single-track going North-East is the Merthyr Tydfil branch.
- There is a crossover to the North of the station, so that trains can go where they should.
- The single platform is the grey-shaded area between the two tracks.
- The tracks are electrified to the South.
It is a neat simple station, that also allows passengers to travel between stations on different Northern branches.
The Increase In Passenger Capacity
Consider.
- Currently, there are two Class 150/2 tph on both Northern branches.
- This means current capacity is 596 passengers per hour.
- After electrification, there will be four Class 398 tph on both Northern branches.
- This means future capacity is 2016 passengers per hour.
That is an increase of 238 % in the capacity.
How Many Welshmen And Welshwomen Can You Fit In A Million Pound Park-And-Ride?
This article on Insider Media, which is entitled Work On £1m Park-And-Ride Site Completes.
The Park-and-Ride facility is at Abercynon station, which is the station, where the Merthyr Line splits into two branches to Metryr Tydfil and Aberdate stations.
- The facility has 310 parking spaces.
- It has been built in six months after a November start.
- Bus access will be provided at the original car park.
- I hope they’ve increased cycle capacity for the Geraint Thomas effect.
My only worry is that with eight trains per hour to start between Abercynon and Cardiff in 2023, will the facility be big enough?
Economics
This is obviously and a much-needed scheme and each parking space has cost around £3,000. If on 250 working days, each generate around five pounds in revenue, that must mean that the car park should be viable.
Conclusion
If this Park-and-Ride facility has been built so quickly and should be viable, why is it that so few similar parking schemes are proposed for railway stations?
Especially, where at Abercynon station, there will be a massive improvement in capacity and quality of the train service.
- A doubling of frequency
- Faster, electric tram-trains.
- Trains that can hold more passengers.
How many other stations are getting this improvement?
as to finance, I think this could be the sort of investment, infrastructure funds, run by the like of L & G and Aviva will be looking at..
- Not a large investment.
- Could be constructed to n efficient design.
- Guaranteed return.
But in the future, when electric vehicles make up say half of all those on the road, it could become a large energy supply and storage facility.
The Anonymous Widower 