Energlyn & Churchill Park railway station

Energlyn & Churchill Park railway station (Welsh: Eneu'r-glyn a Pharc Churchill) is a railway station in Caerphilly, Wales, on the Rhymney Line. The northbound platform is in the Energlyn suburb of Caerphilly, whilst the southbound one is in Churchill Park. The station is between Llanbradach and Aber.

Energlyn & Churchill Park Welsh: Eneu'r-glyn a Pharc Churchill
Location	Energlyn, Caerphilly Wales
Coordinates	51.5838°N 3.2287°W
Grid reference	ST149879
Managed by	Transport for Wales
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	ECP
Key dates
8 December 2013	Opened
Passengers
2015/16	74,206
2016/17	86,422
2017/18	101,362
2018/19	111,878
2019/20	98,160
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The first services from the station ran on 8 December 2013.[1] The station was formally opened on 16 December 2013 by Edwina Hart, the Welsh Government Transport Minister.[2]

History

Platforms 1 (right) on the Churchill Park side and 2 (left) on the Energlyn side

The provision of a station on the Rhymney Line at Energlyn was raised in January 2001 when Sue Essex AM was reported to have instructed that £16 million should be set aside for works to improve capacity on the line, including a new station.[3] The failure of Railtrack delayed the project, which was next mentioned in Network Rail's Wales Route Utilisation Strategy for Control Period 4 (2009-2014).[4][5] The station was identified as a longer-term option to be undertaken beyond the Control Period as part of the Sewta strategy which also involved installing a passing loop at Tir-Phil, allowing an increased service on the Rhymney Line.[6] The station would serve new housing around Energlyn and Churchill Park,[6][7] as well as Pwllypant, Penyrheol, Abertridwr and Bedwas.[8] The population in the area is large enough to warrant a station but it is thought unlikely that patronage on the Rhymney Line will dramatically increase, as many potential passengers already use neighbouring stations.[8] The initial service provision was four trains an hour to and from Cardiff Queen Street and Cardiff Central.[8]

In December 2008, Sewta submitted a £350 million five-year spending programme to the Welsh Government which included £38.7 million for works on the Rhymney Line, including Energlyn station.[9] Plans for the station were put on hold when the works were not included in the Government's spending plans for 2011-2012, the reason given being the spending cuts imposed by the UK Coalition government.[4] The project was, however, identified as a priority in the Welsh Government’s National Transport Plan in January 2012, with a projected completion date in 2015.[10]

The design for the station was unveiled by Network Rail on 9 February 2012. It comprises two six-car length platforms with step-free access, parking for 17 cars including disabled spaces,[11] a drop-off point, CCTV, waiting shelters, ticket machines, a bicycle storage area, emergency help points and train information displays.[6][12][13] The design was developed jointly by the Welsh Assembly Government, Network Rail, Caerphilly County Borough Council, Sewta and Arriva Trains Wales.[12] Provision of the new station was scheduled to cost £5.2 million.[7] From opening to October 2018, it was operated by Arriva Trains Wales. Transport for Wales took over operation from October 2018.[14]

Construction

The station was built by a Colas Rail and Morgan Sindall joint venture.[11]

Services

In the December 2016 timetable, the basic daytime service remains two trains per hour each way, to Caerphilly, Cardiff Central & Penarth southbound and to Bargoed northbound. One per hour of the latter continues to Rhymney.[15] This drops to hourly in the evening and two-hourly on Sundays. Increasing the frequency of services to four per hour in each direction has been proposed, but is not currently possible due to timetabling issues at Bargoed.[16]

References

1. Arriva Trains Wales Timetable 5, 8 December 2013 – 17 May 2014. http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/timetables/ Archived 29 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine
2. "Edwina Hart opens £5.2m Energlyn and Churchill Park rail station after first week of services". WalesOnline. 16 December 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
3. "A flood of complaints over station works delay". WalesOnline. 26 November 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
4. "New train station for Energlyn hits buffers". Caerphilly Observer. 16 March 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
5. Network Rail (November 2008). "Wales Route Utilisation Strategy" (PDF). para. 15.07. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
6. Network Rail (November 2008). "Wales Route Utilisation Strategy" (PDF). p. 127. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
7. "New railway station at Energlyn to meet Caerphilly demand". BBC News Online. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
8. Rail.co.uk (February 2012). "New Station Proposed at Energlyn, Near Caerphilly". Retrieved 14 June 2013.
9. Nigel Harris, ed. (14–27 January 2009). "Sewta submits £350 million five-year spend plan". RAIL (609): 17.
10. "Energlyn train station back on transport agenda". Caerphilly Observer. 30 January 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
11. http://premierconstructionnews.com/2013/11/19/energlyn-and-churchill-park-station/
12. Nigel Harris, ed. (22 February – 6 March 2012). "New Energlyn station unveiled". RAIL (690): 14.
13. "Plans for Energlyn train station unveiled". Caerphilly Observer. 9 February 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
14. Network Rail (9 April 2013). "Energlyn's new station plans unveiled". Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
15. Table 130 National Rail timetable, December 2016
16. No extra trains for Energlyn and Churchill Park railway station despite growing demand - Caerphilly Observer

External links

• Train times and station information for Energlyn & Churchill Park railway station from National Rail