Barry Railway Company
The Barry Railway Company was a railway and docks company in South Wales, first incorporated as the Barry Dock and Railway Company in 1884. It arose out of frustration among Rhondda coal owners at congestion and high charges at Cardiff Docks as well the monopoly held by the Taff Vale Railway in transporting coal from the Rhondda. In addition, the Taff Vale did not have the required capacity for the mineral traffic using the route, leading to lengthy delays in getting to Cardiff.
The Barry Railway opened its main line from Trehafod in the Rhondda to Barry in 1889 and its first dock was opened in the same year, with modern loading equipment. It was immediately successful and principally carried coal, the tonnage increased year on year, so that by 1910 it had overtaken Cardiff as the largest export point of South Wales coal and in 1913, a world record of shipment of of coal were exported. Later it built costly branches to connect to the Rhymney and Brecon & Merthyr Railways.
Although chiefly a mineral railway, it ran a suburban passenger service from Barry to Cardiff. After 1918 the South Wales coal industry declined and the Barry Railway suffered accordingly. After the grouping of the railways in 1922 the Great Western Railway sought rationalisation, and the main line of the Barry Railway, which duplicated the ex-Taff Vale main line between Treforest and Trehafod, was 'run down', the passenger service via Tonteg Junction to Trehafod and Porth being terminated between Tonteg Junction and Hafod Junction in 1930 but freight traffic continued until June 1951, the line from Tonteg Junction via the Graig tunnel and station having been singled in its twilight years. Thus from June 1951, all traffic from the south ran to Pontypridd and beyond via the Tonteg Junction-Treforest Junction section from Barry or Llantrisant. Track was thus lifted later between Tonteg Junction and Trehafod. The line from Barry to Cogan, near Penarth, is in use at the present day carrying a busy passenger service to Cardiff and valleys.
Congestion at Cardiff
In the early years of the nineteenth century, it was becoming increasingly pressing to find an efficient and cheap method of bringing coal and iron from the heads of the South Wales Valleys to the ports and wharves of the Bristol Channel. The construction of the Glamorganshire Canal, and further east the Monmouthshire Canal responded to the need, but it was the Taff Vale Railway that brought railway technology to the fore.The Taff Vale Railway working with the Cardiff Docks, and later the Rhymney Railway, also to Cardiff Docks, proved immensely successful. However, volumes of traffic, most especially coal for export, increased hugely as more collieries, and more efficient methods of winning coal, were operative. Cardiff Docks were seen as a near-monopoly, and as such were thought to be unresponsive to customers' wishes. Coal ships intending to load at Cardiff were often obliged to stand off for days waiting for a berth, and loaded coal trains heading for the docks frequently were obliged to wait in loops and on goods lines on the approach, waiting for clearance to enter.
In fact extensions to the docks took place, and in 1865 a new harbour at Penarth was opened together with a new access railway from what is now Radyr.
First attempts
In 1865 a Barry Railway was incorporated by act of Parliament, the . It was to make a branch railway from Peterston on the broad-gauge South Wales Railway to Barry, with powers to lay a third rail for mixed-gauge operation on the SWR main line between Llantrisant and Newport. The Barry Harbour Act 1866 was obtained to make a harbour at Barry. Both of these proposals foundered, chiefly because the Taff Vale Railway practically monopolised the transport of coal from the Taff and Rhondda Valleys to Cardiff, and was hostile to diversion of that traffic from its new harbour at Penarth. In addition, the financial crisis following the failure of the banking firm of Overend, Gurney and Company meant that for a while finance was impossible to get.The Barry Dock and Railway
Dissatisfaction with the available railway and dock facilities was however unabated, and there was a considerable desire for an alternative to break the monopoly. In 1882 promoters allied to the Taff Vale Railway and the Bute Trustees proposed new docks at Roath, east of the city, and a new approach railway from the Taff Vale line. It was made public that mineral haulage rates would be increased by one penny per ton to pay for this line, both on traffic to Roath and to the existing Bute Docks. This deepened the hostility and further inflamed the feelings of the coal owners.David Davies had been active as a railway contractor, and in later life a politician and industrialist, and with other like-minded business people, he formed a group intent on building an alternative dock and railway system, and a bill was prepared and submitted for the 1883 session of Parliament. In fact the strength of opposition from the Taff Vale Railway, the Bute Trustees, and other established companies was such that the bill failed in that session.
It was resubmitted in the 1884 session, and this time it was passed, and the gained royal assent on 14 August 1884. The promoters' costs for the two bills had been about £70,000, a huge sum at that time.
Authorised share capital was £1,050,000, to build from Barry northward to a junction with the Taff Vale Railway at Trehafod, in the Rhondda; there was to be a south-to-west junction with the GWR main line at Peterston and an east to north connection nearby, and a spur to join the Taff Vale main line at Treforest. The dock was to be in extent, the largest enclosed dock area in the country; in fact the area between Barry Island and the mainland was to be made non-tidal, an area extending to.
Taff Vale counter-attack
The Taff Vale Railway, and to some extent the Rhymney Railway, felt keenly the effect of the Barry developments. They did not control the Cardiff Docks and were largely subject to the wishes of the owner, the Bute Trustees, who could set rates and choose whether to install plant independently of the railway companies. Conversely the integrated nature of the Barry Dock and Railway's plans would give it considerable commercial advantage.The Taff Vale set about obtaining parliamentary authorisation in 1885 to acquire the Bute Docks, but this was refused by the Lords committee when the Taff Vale would not agree to running powers requested by the Barry Railway northward from the Trehafod and Treforest connections. The Taff Vale also supported a nominally independent Cardiff, Penarth and Barry Junction Railway which would be a spoiler to the Barry company's development plans at Barry itself, but this was refused, the Barry being granted a corresponding railway from Barry to a junction at Cogan with the Taff Vale's Penarth lines, by the Taff Vale Railway Act 1885 of 31 July 1885. The Taff Vale was granted a circuitous coastal route from Penarth to Cadoxton.
Although this was a victory for the Barry company, it left open the possibility that the Taff Vale Railway would bring Rhondda coal to Barry via Cardiff and this coastal line, rather than hand it over to the Barry Railway at Trehafod. In 1888 the Barry once again applied to Parliament for running powers north of Trehafod; this was refused but a complex non-discrimination requirement was imposed, giving some protection.
First openings
On 20 December 1888 the line between Barry Dock and Cogan was opened to traffic, although this was only a light local passenger service. On the same day the Taff Vale opened its coastal service of passenger trains from Cardiff to Cadoxton which was extended back to Barry station from 8 February 1889.The Barry Railway main line required more effort in construction, but on 22 November 1888 an inspection trip had traversed the full length of the main line. From 13 May 1889 the line from Barry to the junctions with the GWR at Peterston were opened to goods and mineral traffic; the Cogan line started to carry such trains on the same day.
The dock too, was beginning to be ready, and water was admitted to it on 29 June 1889, followed by a formal and ceremonial opening on 18 July 1889. On that day the main line railway from Trehafod and Treforest was also opened to mineral trains.
Commercial success
The inauguration was an instant success, and considerable volumes of coal and other merchandise were passed over the railway and through the dock system. Much of this was abstracted from the Taff Vale Railway, which lost volume and income, and the Bute Trustees too suffered. They reduced their rates in an effort to remain competitive, and this started a rate war.Railway mineral rates were heavily regulated, and the non-discrimination requirements in the Barry's authorising legislation became very important. The Taff Vale nevertheless attempted a series of legal challenges, which mostly failed to gain support.
Change of company name
The company had been incorporated under the name of Barry Dock and Railway Company. It transpired that the precedence of the word "dock" placed the shares in a different category that was disadvantageous, and it was decided to change the company name to The Barry Railway Company. This was approved in the of 5 August 1891.Extending the network
At an early date the Barry directors were considering a further extension to their network, to capture traffic in the Rhymney Valley. A proposal reached the 1888 session of Parliament to build from near St Fagans to Llanishen on the Rhymney Railway, but was turned down in the Lords Committee. A second attempt was made in 1889 for an independent line from near Cogan to Cardiff, and also a junction with the Rhymney Railway north of Caerphilly. This too was withdrawn by the Barry Railway, but significant concessions were obtained.These were that the Taff Vale Railway would agree running powers between Cogan and Walnut Tree Junction over the Penarth and Radyr lines. At Walnut Tree the Rhymney Railway had a junction with the Taff Vale Railway, in fact giving access to the Rhymney's original main line there. Moreover, running powers would be granted for all classes of train from Cogan to Penarth Curve South Junction, where connection was made with the Great Western Railway main line. From this point the GWR had its Riverside Branch, opened in 1884, running down the east side of the River Taff into an important industrial area; both the Barry and the Taff Vale were given running powers over this line, which was to be made suitable by the GWR for passenger operation.
This was duly done, and the Barry Railway was able to operate a passenger service between Barry and Cardiff Riverside GWR station, close to the GWR main station from 14 August 1893. The Taff Vale had already conceded through ticketing, as its former practice of insisting on rebooking of passengers at Cogan was demonstrably unreasonable and had attracted public criticism. The Barry therefore had a viable residential passenger operation.
The passenger service was extended down the bank of the River Taff to Cardiff Clarence Road from 2 April 1894, with seventeen trains each way on weekdays.