Cardiff Central railway station

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Template:Infobox UK medium railway station |lines=South Wales Main Line, Valley Lines |tickets=Ticket office and travel centre in main booking hall |information=PA system, travel centre, electronic displays, timetable posters |buses=Cardiff Central bus station outside main north entrance |parking=280 spaces + 3 disabled |taxis=taxi rank outside main north entrance |accessibility=wheelchair access at street level to booking hall, lifts to platforms |toilets=located on plaforms |telephones=located in booking hall |leftluggage= |lostproperty= |buffet=located on platforms |waitinglounge=located on platforms |cash=located outside main north entrance |photo=located in booking hall |hotels=10 minutes walk to several nearby hotels |trolleys= }}

Cardiff Central (Welsh: Caerdydd Canolog) is the largest railway station in Wales and the only station in Cardiff to be situated on the Great Western Main Line. It is an interchange station for local services on the main line, cross-country express trains, and suburban services on the Valley Lines rail network. The station is operated by Arriva Trains Wales, though the exterior signage (larger than the name of the station) still reads Great Western Railway, the name of the company who built it. It is located in Central Square and was formerly known as Cardiff General.

The railway station forecourt — in the practical manner common in continental Europe but relatively rare in Great Britain — accommodates Cardiff's central bus station.

The railway station

The platforms are numbered 0-4, 6/7 with platform 0 being the northern-most platform and 7 the southern-most. With trains running on the left, platforms 0-2 are used for eastbound trains, 3 and 4 for westbound trains, 6 for eastbound Valley line trains and 7 for Westbound valley line trains. However, some trains do terminate at Cardiff and so may be accommodated on other platforms.

Platforms 1 and 2 are platforms which house up to three short DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) trains, providing eastbound services to destinations such as Crewe, Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester (Piccadilly, but temporarily, through the winter of 2005/2006, Oxford Road, due to engineering work between Crewe and Stockport). Platform 1 is the usual stopping point for eastbound High Speed Trains (HSTs) to London Paddington.

Platform 3 is where westbound HSTs normally stop, whether terminating, or continuing to Swansea or Carmarthen. Platform 4 is the usual location for westbound Regional Express services to Swansea, Carmarthen, and beyond to Fishguard, Milford Haven or Pembroke Dock.

Platforms 6 and 7 are used for services under the Valley Lines brand. Platform 6 is for services running via Queen Street east of the River Taff, to Rhymney, Caerphilly, the Rhondda valleys and the single-track Coryton line. Platform 7 is used for services to Maesteg, Barry, Penarth and the occasional Rhondda or Radyr service via the "City Line", which runs through the Riverside and Canton areas of the city, staying west of the Taff.

In the walkway beneath the platforms, the old GWR decorations are still visible, including the lettering "TO PLATFORMS 3, 4 & 5". Platform 5 was a bay platform at the west end of the station, the location of which was revealed by the architecture of the platform canopy. The end of the platform is also wider than the others. The new seventh platform, Platform 0, is an old staff platform which is now used as an overflow at busy times, and most usually used in regular service for the Central Trains Turbostar services via Gloucester and Birmingham New Street to Nottingham.

There were formerly more platforms south of platform 7 (known as the Riverside station), which served the line to Barry and Penarth and a branch which ran parallel to the east bank of the River Taff to Butetown. These platforms have been demolished and the site is now occupied by the signalbox.

Also of note is the surviving water tower.

The bus station

The bus station is the central point of reference for all local and national bus services in the city. The extent of the bus terminal is from a bay at the south side of the station (used by services 6 and 7), six covered ranks on the north side, and stops either side of Wood Street, which runs alongside.

Long-distance services to the valleys and coach services, e.g. TrawsCambria, National Express, etc. run from rank A at the north end, cross-city services and services to the Vale operate via the stops on Wood Street.

External links

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