Volume Thirteen - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - even more aspects - Articles from the Great Western Railway Magazine - 1922 - 1948 . . . .

In its promotion of the Bill for the construction of a line from Merthyr to Cardiff, the Company had to face the uncompromising opposition of the Glamorgan Canal Company, which up to that time had a practical monopoly of the carriage of coal and iron to Cardiff. Ultimately it was agreed to pay a sum of £10,000 to a Mr. Blakemore, “with the concurrence of the Glamorgan Canal Company, in consideration of their withdrawing all further opposition to the Bill.” The Act, which was obtained on June 21st, 1836, contains 210 clauses and is probably one of the longest Railway Acts in existence.

No time was lost. Brunel (the great engineer whose name is imperishably associated with the Great Western Railway) was engaged to lay out the line, with branches to various collieries and ironworks en route, and the first portion between Cardiff and Abercynon was opened for traffic on October 8th, 1840. It is recorded that the first passenger train travelled from Cardiff to Pontypridd, a distance of twelve miles, in thirty-one minutes, some portion of the distance being covered at the rate of forty miles an hour, notwithstanding Section 158 of the original Act, which provided that the rate of speed of carriages on the railway or branches was not to exceed twelve miles an hour, under a penalty not exceeding £20, or 40s. for each offence! The exaction of such a clause in 1836 and the speed attained by the first Taff Vale train in 1840 show how rapid was the advance, in those early days, of railway engineering, and it is not surprising for one to learn that Section 158 was “soon repealed.”

The line was completed and opened throughout its entire length from Merthyr to Cardiff on April 28th, 1841.

About this date the Bristol Mercury made the interesting announcement that a new source of revenue to the Taff Vale Railway Company had arisen by reason of the fact that "the Great Western Company had completed a contract with Mr. Walter Coffin for the supply for seven years of 40,000 tons of coal per year from the Dinas collieries, the whole of which had to pass along the line, yielding a handsome income which is entirely irrespective of the estimated traffic.” By June, 1841, the branch line in the Rhondda Valley, 2½ miles in length, up to Mr. Walter Coffin’s pit at Dinas, was constructed and opened, and the anticipated new revenue under the Great Western Railway contract was realised. At that time there were nine engines at work on the railway, and four passenger trains every weekday, and two on Sunday, to and from Merthyr.