Volume Six - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - Select Aspects - The Penarth Harbour Dock and Railway - Railway World Article - 1964 . . .

The opening of the rival Barry Dock in 1890 brought a sharp drop in exports from Penarth Dock. From this, recovery was slow, but with the rapidly expanding coal trade, traffic eventually exceeded all previous figures, so that by the peak year of 1913 Penarth was exporting 4½ million tons, equal to the throughput of the large Swansea Docks and also to the totals of Port Talbot, Briton Ferry, Llanelly and Burry Port, as these comparative figures for South Wales show:-

Penarth is, of course, part of the Port of Cardiff, for which the combined total was 15 million tons. The bulk of this was handled by the Taff Vale Railway. Although owned and operated by the T.V.R., the Penarth Harbour Dock & Railway Co. retained its independence until the grouping of railways in 1922 brought all the South Wales ports under the control of the G.W.R. from the Pier Head Offices at Cardiff.

The falling-off of the coal trade following the 1914-18 war, the General Strike and Trade Depression that ensued, brought about the closure of Penarth Dock in 1936. but it remained open until recently for the laying-up, storage and repair of vessels, including naval craft, although it was transformed into an American military fort during the last war. The Tidal Harbour, however, was in continuous use until last year, when the remaining three tips were closed. The harbour branch now serves only the factories adjoining Ferry Road and oil wharves at the harbour.