Train routes in Wales
23 routes · classic 13 · scenic 4 · heritage 5 · mountain 1
23 routes cross Wales in the World Train Map atlas. The longest is the North Wales Coast Line at 425 km; the fastest is the South Wales Main Line, running up to 200 km/h; the oldest line dates to 1836. Every route links to its facts, photo and story, and to the interactive world map.
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Classic (13)
- Cardiff–Portsmouth
Wales to the Solent the slow, lovely way: the Severn Tunnel, Bath’s crescents, Salisbury’s spire and the harbour at Portsmouth.
- South Wales Main Line
GWR’s flagship South Wales express; Hitachi bi-modes drop off the 25 kV wires west of Cardiff and switch to diesel for the last dash to Swansea.
Wikipedia ↗ - North Wales Coast Line
The old Irish Mail route to the Dublin ferries, crossing Robert Stephenson’s Britannia Bridge to Anglesey and skirting the walls of Conwy Castle.
Wikipedia ↗ - Welsh Marches Line
The great spine outside England’s trunk lines: Cardiff to Manchester up the castle-studded Welsh border through Abergavenny, Ludlow and Shrewsbury.
Wikipedia ↗ - Shrewsbury–Chester
The 1848 border line between two walled towns: over Telford’s country at Chirk and the great Cefn viaduct, down the Dee valley through Wrexham to Chester.
Wikipedia ↗ - West Wales Line
The 1856 line west: Llanelli’s sands, the Tywi at Carmarthen, then deep Pembrokeshire to the haven Nelson called the finest port in Christendom.
Wikipedia ↗ - Pembroke Dock Branch
Branch line to the sea at every turn: Tenby’s walls and beaches, Saundersfoot, and the Cleddau at Pembroke Dock.
Wikipedia ↗ - Fishguard Harbour Line
The boat train’s line since 1906: over the Preseli foothills to Fishguard Harbour, where the ferry sails for the Rosslare this atlas draws from the Irish side.
- Rhymney Line
The Rhymney Railway’s own valley, opened to passengers in March 1858: out of Cardiff through the Caerphilly tunnel under the mountain, then Ystrad Mynach and Bargoed to the head of the valley at Rhymney.
Wikipedia ↗ - Ebbw Vale Line
A coal line carrying people again: passenger trains ended in 1962, came back to Ebbw Vale Parkway in February 2008 and reached Ebbw Vale Town in May 2015, climbing the Ebbw valley off the Newport main line.
Wikipedia ↗ - Maesteg Line
West along the South Wales main line to Bridgend, then up the Llynfi valley on Llynvi and Ogmore metals through Tondu to Maesteg. Reopened to passengers in 1992, twenty-two years after the last train.
Wikipedia ↗ - Vale of Glamorgan Line
The coast road to Bridgend: through Barry and out along the Glamorgan shore past Rhoose, where the airport is, and Llantwit Major. Passenger trains stopped in June 1964 and returned in June 2005 with two new stations.
Wikipedia ↗ - Borderlands Line
Wrexham to the Wirral: 1860s Wrexham, Mold and Connah’s Quay metals joined to the 1896 North Wales and Liverpool line, crossing the Dee on the Hawarden swing bridge and running on to Bidston for Liverpool.
Wikipedia ↗
Scenic (4)
- Cambrian Line
Birmingham to the Irish Sea over the Cambrian Mountains: Welshpool, the Talerddig summit cutting, Machynlleth and the estuary into Aberystwyth.
Wikipedia ↗ - Heart of Wales Line
A 121-mile request-stop ramble through empty Mid Wales, crossing the castle-like 13-arch Knucklas Viaduct where trains halt only if you flag them down.
Wikipedia ↗ - Cambrian Coast Line
Clings to the Mid-Wales shore on mostly single track, rumbling across the half-mile timber Barmouth Viaduct over the Mawddach estuary.
Wikipedia ↗ - Conwy Valley Line
From the pier at Llandudno up the Conwy gorge into Snowdonia’s slate mountains, meeting the Ffestiniog steam trains at Blaenau: coast to crag in an hour.
Wikipedia ↗
Heritage (5)
- Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland
The world’s oldest narrow-gauge railway company (1836): double-ended Fairlie steam from Caernarfon castle through Snowdonia to the slate town of Blaenau.
Wikipedia ↗ - Vale of Rheidol Railway
Narrow-gauge steam grinding 200 m uphill from the sea at Aberystwyth to the wooded gorge of Devil’s Bridge: the last steam line British Rail ever ran.
Wikipedia ↗ - Talyllyn Railway
The world’s first railway saved by volunteers, in 1951: its Victorian steam engines still cross Dolgoch Viaduct into the Fathew valley.
Wikipedia ↗ - Llangollen Railway
Ten miles of the Great Western’s Ruabon–Barmouth line, closed in 1965: volunteers reopened Llangollen station in 1975 and relaid the Dee valley mile by mile, reaching a new station at Corwen in 2023.
Wikipedia ↗ - Gwili Railway
Wales’ first standard-gauge heritage railway, reopened in 1978 on the Carmarthen–Aberystwyth line, the last in Wales to lose Brunel’s broad gauge, and now four and a half miles up the Gwili valley.
Wikipedia ↗
Mountain (1)
- Snowdon Mountain Railway
Britain’s only public rack-and-pinion railway, Swiss-engineered in 1896: 950 vertical metres from Llanberis to the roof of Wales.
Wikipedia ↗
Photos via Wikimedia Commons; each route page credits the author & licence
What is the fastest train in Wales?
The South Wales Main Line, running London to Swansea at up to 200 km/h. It is one of 23 routes in Wales in this atlas.
Are there night trains in Wales?
Not in this atlas. Wales has 23 routes here and none of them is a scheduled sleeper, though night trains from neighbouring countries may still reach it.
Can you cross the border by train from Wales?
No route in this atlas crosses a land border out of Wales. Every line listed here begins and ends inside the country.
Which is the most scenic railway in Wales?
Wales has 5 scenic or mountain lines in this atlas. The longest is the Cambrian Line, 200 km.