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The Ely Valley Railway (EVR) was a small railway in south Wales, which was originally operated as part of the Great Western Railway (GWR) system and later absorbed by that company. Associated with it were the Ely Valley Extension Railway and the Ely and Clydach Valleys Railway, which were separate companies but operated by the GWR as extensions to the EVR. ==History== The South Wales Railway (SWR), a broad gauge line allied to the Great Western Railway (GWR), opened its first section between and on 18 June 1850. This line ran through Llantrisant railway station, which is now known as Pontyclun. To the north of the line were rich coalfields, and a number of independent railway companies were formed in order to exploit the mines that were being sunk. The Ely Valley Railway (EVR) was a mineral line authorised on 13 July 1857 to serve the collieries of the Ely Valley. The first section of the line, between Llantrisant and Tonyrefail, opened on 2 August 1860. It was long, and was worked by the GWR. At Tonyrefail was the Cilely Colliery, which was purchased by the GWR to supply coal for its locomotives. The EVR was built to the broad gauge, but in 1860 it sought powers to convert the line to standard gauge, for which it would also need a standard gauge route to the docks at Cardiff. Initially intending to build their own line from Llantrisant to Cardiff, which would thus be in competition with the SWR, the plans were changed when the SWR offered to alter its line between Cardiff and Llantrisant to mixed gauge, so that trains of both gauges could run on the same line. The GWR, which had a large investment in the SWR and operated all of its trains, refused to allow this, and so the EVR gauge conversion plans fell through. The GWR took out a 999-year lease of the EVR in July 1861, and the SWR amalgamated with the GWR on 1 January 1862. A week later on 8 January, the EVR opened some branches: the branch from Mwyndy Junction to Brofiskin was long; and the branch to Gellyrhaidd was . In December that year, the EVR line was extended from Tonyrefail to Penygraig. All the EVR lines had been built to the broad gauge to suit the SWR with which it connected at Llantrisant, and the GWR which operated the trains. The Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway (L&TVJ), which opened in December 1863, connected to the Brofiskin branch at Maesaraul Junction; in order for the L&TVJ to reach Llantrisant, the of line between Llantrisant and Brofiskin was altered to mixed gauge on 5 December 1864. Over the weekend of 11–13 May 1872, the EVR was converted to standard gauge; the necessary powers had been obtained on their behalf by the GWR a few years earlier. In addition to the mixed-gauge section to Brofiskin, there were of purely broad-gauge line to convert; the small EVR system thus totalling of route, all single track. The former SWR line through Llantrisant was converted to standard gauge at the same time. The section between Llantrisant and Penygraig was opened for passenger trains on 1 May 1901. There were stations at and . The EVR was absorbed by the GWR in 1903; the EVR shareholders received £120 of GWR 5% Guaranteed stock for every £100 of EVR Consolidated stock that they held. A third passenger station, at , was opened on 13 July 1925. The passenger service was withdrawn by British Railways on 9 May 1958. Goods services continued until 12 October 1964. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ely Valley Railway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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