Barry Island railway station

Barry Island railway station is a railway station, 9¼ miles (15 km) south-west of Cardiff Central, serving Barry Island (Ynys y Barri) in South Wales. The station has been the terminus – and only remaining active station at the end of the Barry branch of the Cardiff Central to Barry Island line since the closure of Barry Pier station in 1976.Passenger services, operated by Arriva Trains Wales as part of the Valley Lines network, currently use the first half of platform 1.HistoryOpeningIn 1896 the railway line was extended along the newly built raised road causeway from Barry Station onto the Island to provide a service to the newly opened and developing Barry Island Pleasure Park day tripper leisure facilities. The Barry Island station opened in time for the August Bank holiday 1896. The new rail line also crossed to the Island at road level and consequently a level crossing was needed where the line crossed Plymouth Road. When premises on Station Approach Road (formerly Roman Well Road) were being renovated in the late 1990s, traces of the original track were discovered in the basement.To give improved passenger access to the P & A Campbell's White Funnel steamers that plied the Bristol Channel in 1899, the line was continued past Barry Island station through a 280-yard double-line tunnel to the new Barry Pier railway station.Peak yearsThe peak years for passenger numbers at Barry Island were in the 1920s and 1930s. From 1924 on most peak-time August Bank Holiday Mondays between 80,000 and 100,000 visitors arrived at the Island and mostly by train.