Would it be useful to close Birchgrove?

[Egg Centric]

I'm not familiar with the area, but Birchgrove seems a fairly pointless station to me - 350 yards down the line from Ty Glas, which is more accessible.

However, I also wouldn't want a station to be closed simply because it's fairly pointless, but only because it would achieve something like saving money or opening up new timetabling opportunities in the valleys or something.

So is there any point in closing it either? It probably doesn't cost much but I know that a few minutes saving can really make a difference - I dunno if it would in this case though.

 

[Tomos y Tanc]

Sure Birchgrove and Ty Glas are close to each other... by rail. It's a heck of a long walk from one to the other though. There simply isn't a short road / footpath alternative.

 

[Egg Centric]

Sure Birchgrove and Ty Glas are close to each other... by rail. It's a heck of a long walk from one to the other though. There simply isn't a short road / footpath alternative.

With the caveat repeated that I've never been there - it doesn't look long on Google Maps and furthermore the walks from their likely catchment centres (rather than the somewhat artificial platform to platform worst case) don't look appreciably different. Is there something that you can't see on arial view that makes it different on the ground?

 

[Peter Sarf]

I know Birchgrove has bus connections from the main road across the line, Ty-Glas might have none or very few. I cannot be sure of Ty-Glas as I never used it but I do know it might have once been an important traffic generator as the Inland Revenue offices were there (now re-located). So now Birchgrove would possibly be the more important of the two. My view is a bit skewed as I used to stay very near Birchgrove station.

There are roads running along both sides of the railway. Not as direct as the railway itself but not far off and not much housing close to the railway on the South side so perhaps not such a big deal. If the service were to be run by Tram-Trains then I suspect the station spacing is about right !.

 

[Egg Centric]

If the service were to be run by Tram-Trains then I suspect the station spacing is about right !.

Ah I forgot about the whole South Wales Metro thing. That probably makes this moot as like you say there'll presumably be extra stations coming if anything.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Ah I forgot about the whole South Wales Metro thing. That probably makes this moot as like you say there'll presumably be extra stations coming if anything.

Thinking about it a bit more and having looked at a bigger map - If station spacing was to be addressed then Ty-Glas could be moved towards Heath !. Or just as likely a new "station"/stop opened between Ty-Glas and Heath. But I would spend the money / hope on getting further West than Coryton.

 

[Oxfordblues]

The speculative Cardiff Railway wasn't a great success for coal traffic, being unable to compete with the Taff Vale Railway and the line was cut-back to Coryton in 1931.

 

[Thornaby 37]

Sure Birchgrove and Ty Glas are close to each other... by rail. It's a heck of a long walk from one to the other though. There simply isn't a short road / footpath alternative.

I've walked from one to the other in about 5 to 6 minutes (turn right outside Birchgrove into Caerphilly Road, left into Maes-Y-Coed road and left again into Field Way)

It probably takes as long to walk from the far end of platform 1 to station exit at Gloucester, or Thameslink platforms to Victoria Line / Circle Line at St Pancras