Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway Company.

Corporate body

Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway Company.

The Rhondda & Swansea Bay Railway (RSBR) was incorporated on 10 August 1882 for the purpose of connecting Swansea with the Rhondda Valley. This extension provided an alternative route for bringing coal from the Rhondda valley to the Swansea Bay ports. The route stretched from Treherbert to Briton Ferry, which included the two mile Rhondda Tunnel. The tunnel, connecting the Afan Valley with the Rhondda Valley, was the longest tunnel in Wales. It was opened to traffic in July 1890. The single-line tunnel split into double track on emerging from Rhondda reaching Blaenrhondda, the RSBR's only station in the Rhondda. From there, the line continued to the Taff Vale lines at Treherbert and had branches to Aberavon and Port Talbot docks. It was later extended to Swansea with a branch to Neath, bringing the total length to 31 miles. The first section of the RSBR was opened to passenger traffic on 25 June 1885.The line was worked by the Great Western Railway from January 1906 under an agreement dated 2nd July 1906 and absorbed into the GWR as from 1 January 1922 by virtue of the Railways Act dated 19 August 1921. The Blaenrhondda Tunnel was closed in 1968, followed soon by the whole of the old RSBR line.