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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Class 150 in platform 2 at Cardiff Bay, December 2025 | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Cardiff Bay,Cardiff Wales | ||||
| Coordinates | 51°28′02″N3°09′59″W / 51.4671°N 3.1665°W /51.4671; -3.1665 | ||||
| Grid reference | ST190748 | ||||
| Managed by | Transport for Wales | ||||
| Platforms | 2, but only 1 is currently in use | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | CDB | ||||
| Classification | DfT category F1 | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 9 October 1840 | Line opened | ||||
| December 1844 | Station opened as Cardiff Bute Dock | ||||
| 1845 | Renamed Cardiff Docks | ||||
| 1 July 1924 | Renamed Cardiff Bute Road | ||||
| 26 September 1994 | Renamed Cardiff Bay | ||||
| 26 May 2025 | Platform 2 opened, Platform 1 closed for redevelopment | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2020/21 |  88,028 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  0.315 million | ||||
| 2022/23 | 0.511 million | ||||
| 2023/24 | 0.547 million | ||||
| 2024/25 | 0.756 million | ||||
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Cardiff Bay railway station (Welsh:Bae Caerdydd), formerlyCardiff Bute Road, is astation serving theCardiff Bay andButetown areas ofCardiff, Wales. It is the southernterminus of theButetown branch line 1 mile (1.5 km) south ofCardiff Queen Street.
Currently one platform is in use, Platform 2, which opened 26th May 2025. The existing Platform 1, which closed on the same day, is being redeveloped. The station building lies onBute Street, although access to the station is from the nearbyLloyd George Avenue. For various reasons, including it being the origin of the first steam-powered passenger train service in Wales, the station is a Grade II*listed building.[1]
Passenger services are provided byTransport for Wales.
The line to the docks was opened on 9 October 1840 but the station was not mentioned in Bradshaw's railway timetables until December 1844. It was opened as Cardiff Bute Dock but the name was changed to Cardiff Docks in 1845 by theTaff Vale Railway (engineer:Isambard Kingdom Brunel).
The station building came into use in 1843 and was the head office of the TVR until 1862, when new offices were built at Queen Street.[1] After this it was let to the consulates of the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal and Brazil, with separate flagpoles provided for each nation.
The station was renamed Cardiff Bute Road by theGreat Western Railway on 1 July 1924 and given its present name in 1994.[2]
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The building was restored in the 1980s and served for a time as a railway museum under the auspices of theNational Museums and Galleries of Wales and the Butetown Historical Railway Society (which in 1997 relocated its activities to theVale of Glamorgan Railway).[3] Following this, the station building had become derelict, with train passengers using a temporary shelter.
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In August 2017, plans were approved to renovate and convert the derelict 1840s building, and construct a four-storey building alongside it. The new building would house 10 flats, offices and a cafe. The Victorian Society said the Bute Street station was one of the oldest and most significant railway structures in Wales and in the previous year appeared on its list of the 10 most endangered buildings. It said it supported a sensitive restoration scheme but the current proposal would cause a "high degree of harm to the building and its setting".[4] The first stage of the development opened in June 2019.[5]
There was a shuttle service between Cardiff Queen Street and Cardiff Bay every 12 minutes Monday to Saturdays (between 0630 and 2330) and every 12 minutes on Sundays (between 1100 and 1630) usingClass 153 Sprinters. Some services were operated by aClass 121 "bubble car" until it was withdrawn in June 2013.
Since the June 2024 timetable change, the trains now operates between Cardiff Bay and Pontypridd every 30 minutes and every 30 minutes from between Cardiff Bay and Cardiff Queen Street every Monday to Saturday. Sundays services operates three trains per hour between Cardiff Bay and Cardiff Queen street and one train per hour operate between Cardiff Bay and Pontypridd. These are operated withClass 150 Sprinters.[6]
| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardiff Queen Street | Transport for Wales Butetown branch line | Terminus | ||
| Future services | ||||
| Butetown | Transport for Wales Butetown branch line | Terminus | ||
In June 2018, the then future Welsh train operating companyKeolisAmey Wales announced plans to build a line extension and a terminus station,The Flourish (since renamed back to Cardiff Bay) for theButetown Branch, along with an intermediate station atLoudoun Square.[7] This station would have completely replaced the existing station, which would have closed.
Plans have since been revised, and in August 2022 it was proposed to construct the two-platform Loudoun Square station further to the north, and to retain Cardiff Bay station in its present location, but to add a second platform. The station will be served by more frequent tram-train vehicles from spring 2024. The line will form part of theSouth Wales Metro.[8]
In September 2024 it was announced that Cardiff Bay would gain a third platform as part of Cardiff Crossrail, which would link the Butetown branch line withCardiff Central. Work on Cardiff Crossrail is anticipated to start in Autumn 2025[9]
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