Cardiff Central Railway Station

Extraordinarily expensive. But there again, I am a valleys boy. What would I know. It’s just, 2 quid for a lucozade can’t be right can it? Lol.
Clean, warm, great WS Smith, and the coffee is rather good from the café too. It’s been a very pleasant departure point each and every single time. Nice place to be quite honestly.

After arriving in England and Wales this was the first place where WiFi was working. Transparent signs, lots of benches, great stalls with fresh baguettes — for a moment I was considering staying there: D Unfortunately, they don´t have beer anywhere!
Bylo to první místo po příjezdu do Anglie a Walesu, kde fungovala wifi. Přehledné cedule, spousta laviček, skvělé stánky s čerstvými bagetami — chvíli jsem zvažovala, že tu budu bydlet: D Bohužel, nikde nemají pivo!

As a train station, Cardiff Central definitely does its job. However, I’m rating 2 stars because I feel like Cardiff deserves a lot better. I love visiting cities all over the world and the running theme is that in all the great cities, you have 1 major train station that is well kept /​taken care of — the beating heart of the community, if you will.
And Cardiff Central??? Well, it’s anything but.
~ Interior:
The inside of this station looks like it hasn’t had a good wash in years. It is VERY dirty and grimy, especially the restrooms. The tunnel that leads you to all the different platforms hasn’t seen a washing since the dawn of time, which leads to a very cramped and hectic atmosphere and a dirty feeling.
I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t complain about this if Cardiff was just a random city in fuck middle of nowhere. In fact, if that was the case, comparatively speaking Cardiff Central would be a fantastic station. However, like I said earlier I feel as though Cardiff deserves a bit better than below average.
~ Customer Service:
The one shining light of this place. From my experience, the staff have always been pleasantly kind and helpful if you have any questions about your journey. Sometimes during peak hours though, there can be a queue to the Travel Information desk.
~ Things To Do:
There’s a small food shop inside to get any snacks, but if you have enough time I suggest finding somewhere else nearby the station for a bite to eat since it’s just in the middle of the city anyway. Everything is within walking distance, so I find Cardiff Central to be situated in a great location. It’s also right next to the bus station for easy transfers if need be.
—
Cardiff Central isn’t *horrible* by any means, but I feel as though the capital of Wales can hold itself to a higher standard than a sub-​par train station.

An ugly
station in an ugly area. I should know I took the scenic route everywhere as
I kept getting lost nearby! Busy too. River
Taff was diverted as the area where the station is was prone to flooding.

Or in Welsh, Caerdydd Canolog. Cardiff Central is a major station in downtown Cardiff close to the Millenium Statium. The station has 7 platforms with service connecting throughout Wales as well as the Great Western Line to London, Cross Country to Manchester and Birmingham. There is a first class lounge on the First Great Western line, but it’s not open on Sunday.
Not a whole lot of services inside the barricades, in fact I only spotted an Upper Crust kiosk on the platform. In the main concourse, WH Smith, Upper Crust and a Marks & Spencer Simply Food.
Off to the south, get a picture of Brains, Cardiff’s own beer brewery.

I despise Cardiff Station. It depresses me for some reason. I just find there’s something so grubby and drab about it. It isn’t old and grubby in an «it’s got character» kind of way. It’s just old and grubby. It’s not really in keeping with the new «modern» Cardiff and it’s quite small for a capital city. On match days or events days it’s an absolute nightmare and it seems that even though this is a fairly common occurance they still mess stuff up. The amount of times I’ve been made late or they’ve changed the schedules is unreal. I’m also biased against it as I’ve spent many a miserable night after a night out in Cardiff sleeping in its cold, depressing waiting room, afraid to actually fall asleep in case the psycho sitting in the chair opposite is just one snoring stranger away from snapping. The front of the station is decent enough but inside it’s a nightmare.
Not looking forward to my train journey in a few hours…

Cardiff Railway Station is situated a stones throw from the Millennium Stadium, and the main shopping area of Cardiff. It’s also located immediately behind the bus station and so it must be one of the most conveniently sited stations in the UK.
Housed in a beautiful period building, with modern interior, it’s always kept spotlessly clean, and never seems to get too overcrowded. The staff are a pleasant lot, always willing to help, and the layout is pretty straightforward, making you whole travel experience a joy. There’s a few places to buy food and drink, but they can be a little pricey. With Coffee #1 just around the corner, I recommend that you pay them a visit if you have time, or there’s a couple of cheaper newsagent type shops nearby as well.

I used to commute back and forth between Bristol and Cardiff, so I’ve spent way too much time in this station.
First, here are some good things about it:
— The building itself is attractive enough, and the main entrance /​ticket office area has plenty of space and light.
— The queues for tickets generally go down quickly, so you don’t have to wait too long (unless it’s peak r

Lorsque le Millenium Stadium reçoit un match de foot ou de rugby, que cela soit en championnat national ou en compétition européenne, la gare centrale de Cardiff devient le rendez-​vous de tous ceux qui n’ont pas pensé réserver une chambre pour la nuit d’après match. Dès la troisième mi-​temps terminée dans l’un des nombreux pubs du centre, la gare voit arriver les supporteurs heureux mais lessivés qui cherchent ici un banc ou un espace pour s’assoupir quelque peu. La police de Cardiff veille, évitant les agressions tant que faire se peut, mais rien né remplace toutefois de prendre ses précautions par avance et bloqué une nuit dans l’une des auberges à l’ancienne dans les faubourg de la capitale galloise.

Cardiff Central (Caerdydd Canolog in Welsh) is the Welsh Capital’s principal station, and the busiest station in Wales. Over 8 million passengers use it every year, and nearly a million people change trains here, making it the tenth busiest in the UK outside London. As well as an extensive range of long-​distance services, it’s the hub of the busy ‘Valley Lines’ suburban railway network.
The station was originally opened in 1850 by the South Wales Railway running from Swansea to Gloucester (and from there to London), although the bridge over the Wye at Chepstow did not open until a year later. The opening of the Severn Tunnel in 1886 considerably shortened the route to Bristol and to London, and was made shorter again by the opening of the direct Swindon-​Severn Tunnel line through Wootton Bassett in 1903.
The original buildings at Cardiff were rebuilt several times, but the present station dates from 1934, when the Great Western Railway rebuilt the whole station. This included an impressive main entrance in white Portland stone, with platform buildings faced in cream glazed tiles, under long canopies. The entrance, concourse and platform buildings are all listed.
The station was known as ‘Cardiff General’ until 1973, and many locals still refer to it as ‘the General’. Further refurbishments in 1983 and in 2000 saw a second entrance and car park opened on the south side of the station, an additional platform (numbered ‘0’) on the north side, the former parcels subway opened to passengers and the square in front of the station opened up and paved attractively in stone. This has improved access around the station considerably. The station has fully bilingual notices, timetables and announcements (in Welsh first).
Inter-​city services operate to London via Swindon and Reading every 30 minutes during week-​days, and hourly to Swansea. There are also medium and long-​distance services to Bristol every 30 minutes and hourly to Bath, Salisbury, Southampton, Portsmouth, Taunton, Hereford, Gloucester, Shrewsbury, Carmarthen, Manchester, Birmingham, Derby and Nottingham. There are also less frequent direct trains to other destinations, including via the North Wales coast to Anglesey and to Milford Haven in West Wales.
Frequent suburban services operate to Pontypridd, Caerphilly, Rhymney, Maesteg, Merthyr Tydfil, Aberdare, Barry, Penarth and the Rhondda Valley. New local services include hourly trains to Bridgend via Cardiff Airport (Rhoose) and to Ebbw Vale, both on formerly closed lines that have been reopened.
Services include a taxi rank, car parking, a first-​aid post, cash-​points, a First-​Class Lounge, toilets with baby-​changing facilities, covered cycle storage. The station is fully accessible with step-​free access. There are several shops and refreshment facilities, including a W H Smiths and M&S Simply Food. Cardiff’s main bus station is in Central Square, immediately in front of the station a rare example of integrated public transport provision in the UK!