Rail transport in Cardiff

Today, there are three train operating companies in Cardiff: Great Western Railway, CrossCountry and Transport for Wales.

Cardiff Central is one of the United Kingdom's major railway stations, providing connections to Newport, Bristol, Bath, Reading, London, Southampton, Portsmouth, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Birmingham and Nottingham.

It diverges from the main line near Swindon, first passing through Bristol Parkway and continuing through the Severn Tunnel to Cardiff Central via Newport.

Rail services run to Cardiff Central and Queen Street every 30 minutes, and usually continue on the Coryton Line.

The line terminates at Coryton, after calling at stations in Heath, Ty Glas, Birchgrove, Rhiwbina and Whitchurch.

Rail services run to Cardiff Central and Queen Street every 30 minutes, and usually continue on the Radyr Line.

Frequencies are every 30 minutes on both branches and often link up with Vale of Glamorgan Line services to Barry Island or Bridgend via Rhoose Cardiff International Airport.

Services run every 30 minutes and often continue through Cardiff onto the Vale of Glamorgan Line to Penarth or Barry Island.

Trains call at Grangetown in Cardiff before continuing on the main line to stations in Dinas Powys and Barry, or diverging onto a branch serving Penarth.

The South Wales Metro System is a proposed major overhaul of the transport systems in South East Wales, including integration of heavy rail and development of light rail and bus-based public transport services around the hub of Cardiff Central.

The disused railway station in the St. Fagans area, in the west of the city, could be reopened to bolster transport links for a major Cardiff tourist attraction, under a proposal in March 2010 by former First Minister Rhodri Morgan AM and Cardiff West MP Kevin Brennan, follow predictions that visitor numbers to the National History Museum could top one million a year by 2017.