(Title Image: Peter Bolter via Wales Online)
On 23rd March 2001, the then (Welsh) Minister for Environment, Planning & Transport, Sue Essex, held a turf-cutting ceremony for Brackla railway station.
I haven’t been able to find a picture of this momentous occasion, though way back in 2013 (when it looked like the station would be built in or around 2015-2018) I said:
“As depressing as it might sound, we’re probably closer to Brackla station becoming a reality than at any point since 2001….
“If the 2015 (target) date were to have been hit, you would’ve expected a planning application to have been submitted this year (2013), and construction starting mid-2014 at the latest. There’s no sign of that happening. If it’s going to be based on time savings made possible by electrification, then it’s unlikely to happen this side of 2018.
“How about March 2021? Make it a nice round twenty years.”
– Oggy Bloggy Ogwr, 4th July 2013
Somewhat unbelievably, here we are….and the station still isn’t there.
Timeline of (Non)Events
March 2001 – A Welsh Government Minister holds a turf-cutting ceremony for a new park and ride railway station at Brackla. At the time it was estimated to cost £2.9million.
2004 – Outline planning permission is granted for the Erw Hir/Longacres housing development, with land reserved for the future station.
2007-08 – It emerges that Brackla was sidelined in favour of a new station at Llanharan, which opened in December 2007. The late Cllr. David Sage told the Glamorgan Gazette: “Some people had moved to Brackla in the expectation that they would soon be able to commute to Cardiff by train.”
2013 – A report by the then regional transport consortium, SEWTA, lists Brackla station 51st of 54 earmarked projects and pushes the proposed timescale for delivery beyond 2015. The land is nonetheless protected for a park and ride station in Bridgend’s Local Development Plan until at least 2021.
2015 – Brackla is listed (again) as a possible location for a new station in the Welsh Government’s provisional plans for the South Wales Metro. Additionally, Carwyn Jones tells the Senedd the exact location of the station was still in dispute and also that rail capacity problems remain. Despite this, Erw Hir/Longacres remains the only site put forward since then.
2016 – In perhaps the most bizarre development to date, work starts on the station car park (pictured above). This is because a time limit for the council to buy back the land was close to expiring. The idea was for it to be a “park and share” – whereby two or more cars would arrive separately, park up, then share a ride into the town centre or wherever. However, it’s been fenced off ever since and reportedly can’t open until the rest of the station and a bridge to Bridgend Industrial Estate are completed.
2017 – There’s another setback as a UK Government decides that electrification of the South Wales Mainline will stop at Cardiff instead of continuing to Swansea. Electrification was expected to have been able to free up enough time for a stop at Brackla.
2018 – Brackla Station remains shortlisted for future approval as part of South Wales Metro plans at an estimated cost of £6.1million.
What’s likely to happen next?
The land for Brackla station will almost certainly be carried over into the 2033 Local Development Plan (update: it has been) – though being in the development plan doesn’t necessarily mean something will be built.
In a bit of good news, during 2020 Brackla station was included in Phase Two of the Cardiff City Region’s “Metro Plus” programme alongside measures to address the Pencoed level crossing.
The bad news is there’s no timetable. Most of Phase One of Metro Plus isn’t expected to be completed until 2023, with several projects likely to take even longer than that. You’re looking at the mid-to-late 2020s at the earliest. Brackla station was also not specifically mentioned in the Cardiff City Region’s recently-published rail strategy.
The biggest sticking point has long been a lack of capacity on the mainline and Maesteg branch line to enable trains (namely Cardiff-Maesteg trains) to stop at Brackla.
In 2019, the Economy Minister said early technical studies were being undertaken on installing a passing loop at Tondu which would allow half-hourly services to and from Maesteg. There have, however, been no further updates. It’s been estimated a passing loop could cost up to £15million.
The Tondu area is due to be resignalled by Network Rail in 2023 (pdf – p21). Although that would be an important first step towards providing a passing loop, it wouldn’t be enough by itself to increase the number of trains.
Will it happen?
Some may argue a station at Brackla would be a waste of time and money given that it’s within reasonable distance on maps to Bridgend station – which could instead be upgraded (as proposed in the recent town centre masterplan).
That would be missing the point. The station would be more about Brackla residents commuting to/from Cardiff (and Swansea) by train instead of driving, as well as improving access to the industrial estate. I suspect it would be very well-used and a “quick win” given that the proposed site is easily walkable from most of Brackla and close to a major employment area.
I don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes on these things, but – as mentioned – the station can’t be built without enough capacity and time to allow trains to stop at Brackla. So I doubt it can happen until the Maesteg passing loop is built or it’s decided that other trains should stop at Brackla instead.
Additionally, Brackla will likely be competing for a slot with proposed stations for the Parc Llanilid development near Llanharan, Miskin Parkway, St Fagans and maybe mainline platforms at Ely Mill in Cardiff – all of which will be seen as higher political priorities.
So to answer the question, I’m leaning towards “No”. For the foreseeable future, efforts should perhaps focus on building a pedestrian and cycle bridge over the tracks….which would take us halfway towards finishing the station, I suppose.
2031, then?
