Cardiff Riverside Branch
The Cardiff Riverside Branch was a short railway constructed as an industrial railway in Cardiff, South Wales by the Great Western Railway.[1]
New industries had developed along the banks of the River Taff south from Cardiff Central station towards Cardiff Docks. Whilst the main Bute and Roath docks were well serviced well by both the GWR and the Taff Vale Railway, the relatively thin spit of land along the banks of the River Taff between the docks and the TVR's Penarth railway, known locally as "Rat Island", were not.
Construction from the east side of Cardiff Central began in early 1882, reaching an interim goods-only station two-thirds along the spit, allowing opening on 14 September 1882. This served both Curran Steels, a works to the west of the line which produced rolled steel and brass, and then pressed them to make enamel wares including baths, and other local works. The line was then extended to a second goods-only station at Cardiff Clarence Road.[1]
In 1894, after the GWR took over the TVR, the GWR upgraded the line for passenger use, allowing the TVR to extend its existing passenger services, running from Cogan to Clarence Road from 2 April 1894.[1] This also allowed connection to the made with the Cardiff Tramways Company system.[2] During both World Wars, the line was busy shipping product to and from Curran's. In both wars, the works was turned over to munitions works manufacturing shell casings, with machine gun ammunition continuing until the 1960s, and additionally tank track in World War II.
The line continued to run under British Railways, but was marked for closure under the Beeching Axe.[1] It closed to passengers in March 1964, allowing freight services to continue to Curran's yard siding until July 1968,[1] when the entire line was closed and quickly taken up.
The entire spit has been redeveloped, with industry squeezed out between developing office, retail and housing developments. No signs of the former line or its stations exist today.
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