Valley Lines (train operating company)

Valley Lines[1] was the trading name of the Cardiff Railway Company, a train operating company owned by Prism Rail and later National Express,[2][3] that ran local services around Cardiff from October 1996 until October 2001.

For the urban rail network around Cardiff, formerly operated by this franchise but today by Transport for Wales, see Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes.

Valley Lines
Class 143 Pacer at Cardiff Central in 2000
Overview
Franchise(s)Valley Lines
13 October 1996 – 13 October 2001
Main region(s)Cardiff and South Wales Valleys
Other region(s)Bridgend and Vale of Glamorgan
Fleet size36
Parent companyNational Express
Reporting markVL
SuccessorWales and Borders

Services

Valley Lines operated passenger services around Cardiff and the Valleys in South Wales.

Routes operated consisted of four northern branches to Aberdare, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhymney and Treherbert, which were interworked with the shorter southerly branches to Penarth, Barry Island and Cardiff Bay. The City Line between Radyr and Coryton also formed part of the franchise, with all services calling at Cardiff Queen Street.

The operator originally undertook to introduce new services from Pontypridd to Manchester and Portsmouth,[4] but this did not take place.

The franchise predates the introduction of services that are now generally included under the 'Valley Lines' umbrella, such as those via the Vale of Glamorgan line and to Ebbw Vale.

Rolling stock

Valley Lines inherited a fleet of Class 143s and Class 150s from British Rail. Starting in 1998, the operator changed its fleet by exchanging some of its Class 150s for Class 142s from the north of England.

Valley Lines also used Mark 2 carriages on Rhymney Line services with EWS Class 37s and Fifty Fund Class 50s among the locomotives used.

Fleet
Class Image Type Top speed Number Built
mph km/h
142 Pacer Diesel multiple unit 75 120 15 1985–1987
143 Pacer 14 1985–1986
150 Sprinter Diesel multiple unit 75 120 6 1984–1987

Valley Lines' fleet was maintained at Cardiff Canton depot.

Demise

In 2000 the Strategic Rail Authority announced its intention that a single all-Wales franchise should take over the majority of rail services in Wales.[5] Accordingly, in October 2001, various operations of the Wales & West franchise were merged with those of Valley Lines to create Wales & Borders.

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Valley Lines.
  1. Companies House extract company no 3007927 Archived 19 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine Cardiff Railway Company Limited
  2. Osborne, Alistair (19 July 2000). "National Express buys Prism for £166m". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 November 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  3. Harper, Keith (19 July 2000). "National Express buys Prism for £166m". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  4. Poole, Fiona (30 May 1997). "The Railway Passenger Companies - Research Paper 97/72" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  5. "Plan for single Welsh rail franchise". BBC News. 20 June 2000. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
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