Volume Four - An Era of Change, Uncertainty, Depression & War - The era of God's wonderful railway - the GWR years . . .

	The TVR became a part of Great Western Railway (GWR), colloquially known as “God’s Wonderful Railway” on the 1st January 1922. The "Railways Act" effectively grouped the independent railway companies into the big four. The “Great Northern” and “Caledonian” vanished under the Act but the Great Western was fortunate enough to retain its original title adopted in 1833.

The grouping increased the GWR's mileage permanent way by over 560 miles. The capital of the company grew by c.£36m and 18,000 new employees found themselves with new employers overnight. The GWR, under the Act, was to become the largest dock-owning company in the world since they inherited management of the ports of Newport, Cardiff, Penarth, Barry, Port Talbot and Swansea. These ports handle c.50m tons of goods a year, 75% of which is coal or its derivatives. Imports include pig-iron, iron-ore, pit timber, foodstuffs including flour and fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, dairy-produce, live cattle, chilled meat and other general merchandise.

	In its final year, the TVR carried 2.75 million passengers, excluding season ticket holders, on its remaining 68 miles of track; an amazing number by any measure at the time, or since! Coal export was still vital to the ports and in the year to August 1924, 37 million tons were shipped from the South Wales ports.
	During the period 1930–1938 six of the fourteen coal tips on the south side of the dock were removed. Depression followed, halting and reversing the industrial growth and development which had been evident for a century and a half. It caused massive emigration: Wales lost 390,000 people between 1925 and 1939, and its population did not regain its 1925 level until 1973.