Barry railway station

Barry
Welsh: Y Barri
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Location
Place	Barry
Local authority	Vale of Glamorgan
Grid reference	ST107672
Operations
Station code	BRY
Managed by	Arriva Trains Wales
Number of platforms	3
DfT category	E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	0.425 million
2005/06	0.451 million
2006/07	0.476 million
2007/08	0.500 million
2008/09	0.480 million
2009/10	0.506 million
2010/11	0.504 million
2011/12	0.506 million
2012/13	0.527 million
2013/14	0.559 million
2014/15	0.531 million
History
Key dates	Opened 8 February 1889 (8 February 1889)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Barry from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

See also: Transport in Wales

Barry railway station (Welsh: Y Barri) is one of three stations serving the town of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales. It is located on the Vale of Glamorgan Line, which runs from Cardiff Central to Bridgend via Barry, Rhoose, and Llantwit Major. A short branch off this line connects Barry to Barry Island.

Passenger services are operated by Arriva Trains Wales as part of the Valley Lines network.

File:Barry Station 1766412.jpg

The station in 1962

History

Although Barry station was the terminus of the original Barry Railway, it was not among the first stations to open. The first passenger services ran between Cogan and Barry Docks starting on 20 December 1888 along the line known as the Cogan branch; the main line ran from Barry to Trehafod in the Rhondda. The extension of services to Barry did not happen until 8 February 1889. It remained a terminus for Cardiff services until the Barry Railway became a constituent member of the Great Western Railway in 1922. However the line was extended to Barry Island on 3 August 1896 and a good proportion of the passenger trains terminated there. Barry was also the terminus of the Vale of Glamorgan Railway which opened on 1 December 1897 though was operated by the Barry Railway. Trains ran from Bridgend where the Barry Railway had its own platform and passengers wishing to travel to Cardiff had to change trains at Barry.

Services

The station has a basic four trains per hour service (Mon-Sat) to Cardiff Central eastbound and three per hour to Barry Island and one per hour to Bridgend westbound. Eastbound trains usually continue beyond Cardiff Central to either Merthyr Tydfil or Aberdare (half-hourly to each).

On Sundays there are either 2 or 3 trains per hour to Cardiff Central (one each hour continuing to either Merthyr or Aberdare plus one every other hour to Rhymney), half hourly trains to Barry Island and one every two hours to Bridgend.

Services are mainly operated by Class 150 Sprinter units, as well as Class 142 Pacer units and Class 143 Pacer units, which usually operate in pairs to form a 4-car service.

Regeneration

File:Gorsaf y Barri - 10fed Mehefin 2015 015.JPG

The rebuilt station showing the new Platform 3

As part of a £200m regeneration scheme to boost train capacity in Cardiff and the surrounding areas, Barry now has a third platform (Platform 3) which is now only used by down or sometimes up trains to & from Barry Island. Up trains can and still do use the Barry station up platform (1) generally but as the new platform line is now bi-directional and signalled as such, it is also sometimes used for up passenger trains which can start from here if a 'catch-up' in the timetable is required, thereby cutting out a reversal at Barry Island. The laying of the bi-directional platform line had to be performed while essential signal wires and point rodding lying 1.75m from the platform wall, was still in place. The 'new' platform support blockwork was thus constructed so that its finished edge now lies 2.75m from the former obsolete platform edge. During the months of construction, Barry signal box was taken out of use making the signal pull-wires and point rodding redundant and by week ending 28th March 2014, the ’box was demolished. Having removed the latter components, the void between old and new platform edges was backfilled, tarmacked over and new coping platform stones laid. Prior to 1964, this platform was that of platform, 4, platform 1 previously being the Bay platform where trains to Pontypridd via Wenvoe or sometimes Cardiff started. That area is now a Park & Ride facility. Platform 1 serves all up trains to Cardiff and beyond from either Barry Island or Bridgend. Platform 2 now serves only trains to Bridgend as the line to Barry Island from the junction south of platform 2 was curtailed during the remodelling project and acts as a safety overrun with a buffer stop 100m from the down facing points. Since severe rationalisation following May 1964, station and de-staffing and removal of the former barrow crossing at Barry junction, only a footbridge has served to cross the lines so it has not been possible for disabled persons confined to wheelchairs or unable to ascend stairs, to alight at Barry station from platform 2 and so thy have had to carry on to Barry Island and return on the returning train to Platform 1 at Barry which connects with the main road and taxi rank. With the new arrangement here, this situation means that if westbound on a Bridgend train, they would have to alight at Barry and then change trains and travel to Barry Island and back to platform 1 to obtain the exit to the main road but only after ascertaining that the return journey would in fact be stopping at platform 1.

External links

• Train times and station information for Barry railway station from National Rail

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Barry Docks		Arriva Trains Wales Vale Line - Barry Island branch		Barry Island
		Arriva Trains Wales Vale Line - main route		Rhoose Cardiff International Airport