Aberdare railway station  Aberdare railway station () is a railway station serving the town of Aberdare in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is the terminus of the Aberdare branch of the Merthyr Line, 22½ miles (36 km) directly north of . Passenger services are provided by Transport for Wales. The station at this location (the former "Aberdare High Level") was opened in 1851 and was served by the trains of the Vale of Neath, later Great Western Railway on their route between and Pontypool Road. The line from Abercynon and Cardiff had been built in 1846 by the "Aberdare Railway Company" (later absorbed by the Taff Vale Railway) - this ran to an adjacent but separate station at , although the two routes were later connected to each other a short distance to the west of the town at "Gadlys Junction". Passenger rail services into the town on both lines fell victim to the Beeching Axe in 1964, with the last train running on the former VoN line on 13 June and over the ex-TVR line from Cardiff on 30 October However part of the VoN line west of the town remained open for coal trains serving Tower Colliery at Hirwaun, which was then accessed by the former Taff Vale line. This was also retained to serve various collieries and a coking plant further down the valley at Abercwmboi. From 1968 though, this route was reduced to single track to reduce maintenance costs. Goods traffic through the ex-VoN High Level station ended in 1965 and the line fell into disuse, but in August 1973 it was reopened to release the former TVR line trackbed and station site for road improvements (including the removal of an inconveniently-located level crossing - the town bus station now occupies the site). All services were diverted onto the old VoN line via a new connection between the two lines near Cwmbach and then on through the old High Level station to regain their former route at Gadlys Junction. The new connection was carried over the River Cynon on a girder bridge that had previously been used to carry the defunct to branch line across the A40 road at Wheatley, Oxfordshire. The fact that the line remained open made it possible to reinstate passenger services to the town, which started again under British Rail and Mid Glamorgan in October 1988 using a new platform close to the old disused one (the old High Level station building still survives and can be seen from the current station).