Barry Island railway station facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
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| Location | Barry Island, Vale of Glamorgan Wales |
| Coordinates | 51°23′33″N 3°16′25″W / 51.3924°N 3.2736°W |
| Platforms | 1 |
| Other information | |
| Station code | BYI |
| Classification | DfT category F1 |
| History | |
| Opened | 3 August 1896 |
| Traffic | |
| Passengers (2017/18) |  0.753 million |
| Passengers (2018/19) | 0.832 million |
| Passengers (2019/20) |  0.762 million |
| Passengers (2020/21) | 0.110 million |
| Passengers (2021/22) | 0.304 million |
Barry Island railway station is a train station in South Wales. It's about 9 miles (15 km) southwest of Cardiff Central. This station serves Barry Island, known as Ynys y Barri in Welsh.
It is the last active station on the line that runs from Cardiff Central to Barry Island. The line used to go further to Barry Pier, but that station closed in 1976. Today, trains run by Transport for Wales use platform 1. These trains are part of the Valley Lines network.
Contents
History of Barry Island Station
When Did Barry Island Station Open?
The railway line was extended to Barry Island in 1896. This happened because the Barry Island Pleasure Park was opening. The new line helped bring many day-trippers to the fun park.
Barry Island station officially opened on August 3, 1896. This was just in time for the busy August Bank Holiday. The train line crossed Plymouth Road at ground level, so a level crossing was built.
Later, in 1899, the line was extended even further. It went through a 280-yard tunnel past Barry Island station. This led to the new Barry Pier railway station. This extension made it easier for passengers to catch the "White Funnel" paddle steamers. These boats sailed across the Bristol Channel.
The Busiest Years at Barry Island
The 1920s and 1930s were the busiest times for Barry Island station. On many August Bank Holiday Mondays, between 80,000 and 100,000 visitors arrived. Most of them came by train.
After a big strike in 1926, the August Bank Holiday in 1927 was incredibly busy. Reports said it was "organised chaos." More than 120,000 people came to the island. Trains arrived and left Barry Island Station every five minutes. Over 75 special trains, each carrying about 500-600 passengers, arrived that morning.
One newspaper described a day when over 150,000 people visited. It said, "When it was time for visitors to leave, a queue started forming before 6 pm. By 9:30 pm, it was still over a quarter of a mile long." People waited for hours to get on their trains.
In 1927, the GWR railway company sold special day return tickets for a very low price. They sold over 82,000 tickets! The demand was so high that they ran out of tickets. They even had to use tickets dated for the next day.
Why Did Visitor Numbers Drop?
Train passenger numbers started to fall in the 1950s and 1960s. More people began to own cars. The opening of the Severn Bridge in 1966 also made it easier to drive.
Another big drop happened between 1968 and 1970. Some local train lines closed, which meant fewer direct trains to Barry Island. This made more holidaymakers choose to travel by car.
How the Station Changed Over Time
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In its busiest days, Barry Island station had four platforms. There was a long main platform (platforms 1 & 2) and an island platform (platforms 3 & 4). There were also many sidings where trains could be stored.
Over the years, parts of the station were changed or removed. In 1969, the double track line from Barry was made into a single track. After a fire in 1976, platform 2 was closed. For many years, only platform 1 was regularly used for trains.
In 1998, the old signal box was removed. The tracks for platforms 3 and 4 were disconnected. A new footbridge was built in 2012. This new bridge has disabled access but does not lead to the platforms.
The Heritage Railway at Barry Island
The Heritage Vale of Glamorgan Railway Company moved to Barry Island station in 1997. They started running special heritage trains from platform 4. These trains ran alongside the main railway line. They went to a new station called Waterfront at Hood Road.
By 2007, the heritage line was extended further. It reached a new stop called Gladstone Bridge. The plan was to extend it even more to Barry Docks station.
However, due to money problems, the local council stopped funding the heritage railway. The company had to leave Barry Island station in December 2008.
A private company called Cambrian Transport took over in 2009. They now run the heritage line as the Barry Tourist Railway. As of 2018, their trains stop at Gladstone Bridge halt.
Train Services from Barry Island
From Monday to Saturday during the day, three trains leave Barry Island every hour. They go to Cardiff Central. From there, they continue to places like Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil. In the evenings, trains run every half hour.
On Sundays, trains to Cardiff run about every half hour all day. They also go to Rhymney, Merthyr, and Aberdare. A train journey from Cardiff Queen Street to Barry Island Station usually takes about 36 minutes.
| Preceding station |  National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barry | Transport for Wales Vale Line |
Terminus | ||
 Heritage railways |
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| Woodham Halt | Barry Tourist Railway Main Line |
Plymouth Road | ||
| Waterfront | Barry Tourist Railway Branch Line |
Plymouth Road | ||
| Disused railways | ||||
| Barry Line and station open |
Barry Railway Barry-Barry Pier |
Barry Pier Line and station closed |
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Media Appearances
Barry Island station has been seen on TV! It appeared in the show Gavin & Stacey. Stacey was shown returning to Barry Island from Billericay. The station also appeared in the British TV series Stella (British TV series). In Stella, it was called Pontyberry. Other local stations, like Pontypridd railway station, were also used for scenes in Pontyberry.
See also
