Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway
In time the Canal became overwhelmed by the volume of traffic, and encouraged by the successful opening of railways with more advanced technology than the horse tramways of previous years, the Taff Vale Railway was promoted. It was authorised by Parliament in 1836 and it opened between Merthyr and Cardiff docks in 1841. The line passed close to the Maesmawr workings but did not make a connection.
Taff Vale Railway
The Bute Docks Company was created on 1 June 1887 when the Bute Docks properties were vested in the new company. In 1897 it succeeded in getting authorisation to build a railway, which became the Cardiff Railway, to build from Heath on the Rhymney Railway to Treforest on the Taff Vale Railway, and a southward line from Heath to the docks at Roath. It took until 1911 to construct he line from Heath as far as a point close to the Taff Vale line at Treforest, but the Taff Vale succeeded in fending off the incursion. In fact the connection was never made, and the Cardiff Railway never achieved its potential.