the initial passenger service was three trains each way, soon increasing to four. extra services were added from 1901 so that seven or eight trains ran each way daily; a peak was reached in the 1930s with up to twelve services provided. second world war economy measures saw fewer but longer trains in service. in addition, the l&nwr provided through coaches from via rhymney bridge to crewe, liverpool and manchester, as well as coaches from shrewsbury and hereford to merthyr, as well as return services from dowlais (high street) to shrewsbury and from merthyr to hereford. a gpo sorting van operated between euston and merthyr, running via stafford and shrewsbury, and attached to the 1.45am crewe to shrewsbury service.