The Swansea Vale Railway (SVR) was a railway line connecting the port of Swansea in South Wales to industries and coalfields along the River Tawe on the northern margin of Swansea, by taking over a tramroad in 1846. It was extended to Brynamman in 1868. Passengers were carried from 1860, and a loop line through Morriston was built.
The company was profitable but it was always short of capital, and it looked for a larger company to buy it out. The Midland Railway did so in 1874 when it leased the network, and it absorbed it in 1876. The Midland Railway used the line to get access to Swansea, which it had long sought. After 1923 the Midland's successor transferred the through traffic to another route.
Road omnibus services abstracted much of the local passenger business, and only anthracite traffic kept the line going. When that industry declined the railway mineral traffic followed, and from 1965 closures set in. Parts of the network continued for a time, but by 1983 the entire line was closed.
Before the railway
The South Wales coalfield extends to the sea at Swansea, and therefore was immediately accessible to shipping at a time, before the nineteenth century, when land transport was limited to what pack animals could carry on their backs.
At that time the extraction of copper in Cornwall became an important industry, and as a great deal of coal is required to smelt copper, it became the practice to bring the copper to Swansea by ship and smelt it there.
This specific sector of the metal industry became so dominant that Swansea was given the nickname Copperopolis. The works engaged in this industry were located on the banks of the River Tawe at first, but the construction of the Swansea Canal, opened in 1798, and the development of railways enabled allied metal industries to operate, and to be located further from water transport terminals.
Anthracite coal of high quality was available around Llansamlet, and an early wooden wagonway was built from there to a wharf on the River Tawe by George Kirkhouse; it was operational sometime after 1750. John Scott acquired control of mines on the Gwernllwynchwth Estate and after 1812 built a tram road from there to Foxhole, on the Tawe near its mouth.
In 1834 the Benson family purchased land at the Tyrllandwr Estate and as Swansea harbour developed this gave the family, led by Starling Benson, considerable wharfage land, encouraging the business of shipping coal. The needed transport and in 1839 they commissioned George Bush to survey for a railway. The west bank of the Tawe was heavily developed at this time and his scheme was on the east bank to Abercrave. Public notice was given in 1840 of the intention to build this railway, but in fact it lapsed, probably due to opposition from the Duke of Beaufort.
Nevertheless, Benson and his partners repaired and modernised the 1812 tramroad and made some extension to it over land in their possession, thus not needing parliamentary authorisation.
Transition to a railway In 1845 the partners transferred their interest to a joint stock company, and in 1846 the tramroad was formally purchased. The name "Swansea Vale Railway" was first used at this time. This appears to mark the change from operating as a tramroad to being a railway.
South Wales Railway
The South Wales Railway (SWR) was authorised in 1845 to build a broad gauge railway from near Gloucester to Milford Haven, connecting South Wales with the Great Western Railway (GWR) network to London. Its route intersected the route of the Swansea Vale Railway.
The hoped to sell its line to the South Wales Railway, and the was amenable, but did not have the parliamentary powers to make the purchase. As a means of by-passing this obstacle, the South Wales Railway sponsored a nominally independent company, the Swansea Valley Railway, to take over the and alter it to the broad gauge.
The (10 & 11 Vict. c. ci) was passed in Parliament on 2 July 1847, but with the condition that it could not be sold on to the South Wales Railway until at last half of the authorised capital had been raised and expended on construction. As there was no intention to raise capital or construct anything, this resulted in a stalemate.D S M Barrie, revised Peter Baughan, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 12: South Wales, David St John Thomas, Nairn, 1994,
In March 1850 the construction of the South Wales Railway reached Llansamlet, and a flat crossing was made by the of the line. To optimise their own gradients they lifted the track, which was of stone block sleeper construction, and this caused a minor argument as the had not been asked for permission.
Continuing independently
It was now obvious to the Swansea Vale Railway directors that their line would remain independent for the foreseeable future, so they assessed what needed to be done to secure the future. Some attempts were made to obtain authorisation for passenger operation, and finally in 1855 the company obtained an act of Parliament, the (18 & 19 Vict. c. lx) incorporating it, and authorising passenger operation, and permitting extension to Pontardawe, and southwards to the New Cut in Swansea. To neutralise objections in Parliament from the South Wales Railway, it undertook that a third rail (to make mixed gauge track) would be laid southward from the intersection with the South Wales Railway, allowing broad gauge traffic access down to Swansea. The capital of the newly incorporated company was £117,000.
The South Wales Railway agreed to alter the intersection so as to separate the levels of the two lines, and to build a transhipment shed there to reload goods from narrow gauge to broad gauge wagons. These works were completed in 1857.E T MacDermot, History of the Great Western Railway: volume I: 1833 - 1863, part 2, published by the Great Western Railway, London, 1927
In 1855 the railway was said to be open for a distance of miles and only carrying mineral traffic; this amounted to 1,000 tons per day with an annual income exceeding £5,000.
The company obtained a further act of Parliament, the (19 & 20 Vict. c. xcv), authorising further northward extension to Ystalyfera and Ystradgynlais.From Miles, Thomas and Watkins. The reference to Ystadgynlais is probably to the pits near there. The Ystradgynlais station of the Neath and Brecon Railway did not get built until 1876, and was not on the same line.
Through the period from 1856 the company seems to have had trouble raising money for capital works, and a preference share issue was authorised in 1859, although the trading position of the railway was profitable throughout this period.
Passengers Passenger operation had been authorised and the preparations made for opening from Swansea to Pontardawe for passengers. Captain Ross of the Board of Trade visited the line but he found deficiencies and declined to permit passenger running. Improvements were made and when Colonel Rich of the Board of Trade made a follow-up visit on 20 February 1860 he was satisfied, and passenger trains started running the following day, 21 February 1860. The passenger business was buoyant, and further third-class carriages had to be acquired. Receipts for the half year to August 1860 were £4,912 compared with the previous £3,693, and operating expenses were now £1,740, and rent and rates £683. In later years the practice was usually that the preference shareholders were paid their full dividend but that ordinary shareholders got nothing.
Extending the line The northward extension had been authorised, but actual construction was slow, largely due to the poor level of subscription for shares. In September 1860 the board decided to open the line as far as a temporary terminus at Ynisygeinon.Later usually spelt Ynysygeinon. Late in 1860 the passenger service was extended to that place.Miles et al; Barrie and Baughan say 21 January 1861, and Quick agrees.
The extension to Ystalyfera was opened on 20 November 1861.
Swansea Vale and Neath and Brecon Junction Railway
An essential part of any through route between Hereford and Swansea was the completion of the Swansea Vale and Neath and Brecon Junction Railway (SV&N&BJR), commonly referred to as The Junction Line. This was to run between Colbren Junction on the N&BR to Ynysygeinon on the . Even without Midland Railway involvement, this had been desirable for the N&BR company, giving better access to Swansea than running via Neath.
The Swansea Vale and Neath and Brecon Junction Railway was promoted in 1863 to build a line connecting the Swansea Vale Railway at Ynysygeinon with the Neath and Brecon Railway at Colbren. The Swansea Vale Railway considered that it would abstract traffic from its line, and it decided to petition against it in Parliament. This was not successful, and the obtained royal assent to its act of Parliament, the Swansea Vale and Neath and Brecon Junction Railway Act 1864 (27 & 28 Vict. c. ccxciii), on 29 July 1864.
The ran into serious financial difficulty; it was unable to secure the subscriptions for shares that it needed to start construction. It entered into a complex arrangement with a contractor, John Dickson, but he fell into bankruptcy at a time when he himself was heavily indebted to the company. For some time, work on the was in abeyance. As a moribund company whose only asset was the power to build a line, it was absorbed by the Neath and Brecon Railway (N&BR) on 26 July 1869 under the Neath and Brecon Railway (Amalgamation and Arrangement) Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. cxlv), and construction was completed, and it was opened to traffic on 19 November 1873.
From that time the started to run a passenger service between Brecon and Swansea, using the line and the Swansea Vale Railway, over which it had running powers.
The was to be leased by the on completion, but when it was clear that no progress toward that goal was being made, it was amalgamated with the Neath and Brecon Railway on 26 July 1869.A F N Barnsdale, The Neath and Brecon Railway, in the Railway Magazine, September 1939
Brynamman The Llanelly Railway had reached Brynamman from the west in 1842 and was well established in serving the pits there. The coal industry there and in the vicinity was of prime importance and the decided to build a line to it. In 1863 the submitted a bill for more capital at a level of £48,000 to pay for the Brynamman extension and more rolling stock.
It was probably opened to goods traffic in stages, and to passengers throughout on 2 March 1868. The branch off it from Gwys to Brynhenllys Colliery did not open until 1875.
The Llanelly Railway at Brynamman was considered to be an ally, not a competitor, and a connection between the two companies at Brynamman was under construction. The Llanelly Railway was running passenger trains to Brynamman from 20 March 1865.
Through goods and mineral traffic was soon being run over this route, from Swansea to the West Midlands via Brynamman, representing a more convenient through route.Michael Denman, The Llanelly Railway and Dock Company: The Heart of Wales Pioneer, published by The Wider View, Ilminster, 2012,
Revenue increased to £9512 by the middle of 1864; the increase was said to be largely due to traffic coming from Llanelly Railway and the Vale of Neath Railway (which was by now mixed gauge) via the Swansea and Neath Railway.
Morriston Loop
The main line had been built on the eastern bank, as it was less developed and land acquisition was expected to be cheaper. Of course, most of the industry and population were on the western bank, and the railway could not serve them directly. The Board decided to propose a Morriston branch; it was to be a loop line off the existing main line, leaving at Upper Bank station and rejoining the original line at Glais. Powers for the construction were granted in the (30 & 31 Vict. c. xcviii).