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
From 1923 the Taff Vale Railway was a constituent of the new Great Western Railway at the "Grouping" of the railways, imposing its own character on the larger organisation. The decline in the coal and iron industries took its toll on the mainstay of the network, but passenger trains operate at the present day on most of the main line sections,