Cowbridge Railway

The Cowbridge Railway was a locally promoted railway company in South Wales, formed to connect the town of Cowbridge with the main line network at Llantrisant. A prospectus was published on 1 July 1861 and the Cowbridge Railway Act 1862 was passed on 29 July 1862 with authorised capital of 35,000 pounds. The company was always short of money, and a subscription of 10,000 pounds from the Taff Vale Railway tied the line to that company system, so through passenger trains ran to Pontypridd rather than Cardiff. The first sod was cut on 9 June 1863 and the line opened in 1865, working as a through route from Pontypridd with the Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway. From 1876 the Taff Vale leased the line and in 1889 it absorbed the company. The Cowbridge and Aberthaw Railway, opened in 1892 and absorbed by the Taff Vale in 1895, was run together with it as a single entity. Passenger service from Cowbridge to Aberthaw ended in 1932 and from Llantrisant to Cowbridge in 1951, and a mine siding stayed in use until 1975.