Dare Valley Railway

The Dare Valley Railway was a short mineral railway in South Wales, incorporated by the Dare Valley Railway Act 1863 and opened in 1866 from Aberdare to the Bwllfa Colliery. It served the hills south of Aberdare, where mining was intense and the Vale of Neath Railway had already opened a branch. The line was worked by and leased to the Taff Vale Railway, which listed the route as its Dare Valley Branch, running from Aberdare to Bwllfa Colliery. One halt on the branch, Nantmelyn Platform, opened on 1 July 1904 for miners only and closed on 1 April 1949. The company belongs to the wider story of the Taff Vale Railway, which grew by adding branch lines and colliery connections to serve the coal traffic of the South Wales valleys.