Cardiff Central railway station

Cardiff Central Welsh: Caerdydd Canolog
1930s frontage of Cardiff Central station (northern entrance)
General information
Location	Cardiff, City and County of Cardiff Wales
Coordinates	51°28′32″N 3°10′41″W / 51.4755°N 3.1780°W / 51.4755; -3.1780
Grid reference	ST181758
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	Transport for Wales Rail
Platforms	8
Other information
Station code	CDF
Classification	DfT category A
Key dates
19 June 1850	Opened as Cardiff
1896	Enlarged
1924	Renamed Cardiff General
1931–34	Rebuilt
1940	Merged with Cardiff Riverside station
1964	Riverside platforms closed
1973	Renamed Cardiff Central
2015-17	Enlarged
Passengers
2019/20	12.671 million
Interchange	2.033 million
2020/21	1.975 million
Interchange	0.240 million
2021/22	7.463 million
Interchange	0.782 million
2022/23	10.185 million
Interchange	1.132 million
2023/24	11.499 million
Interchange	1.388 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Cardiff Central (Welsh: Caerdydd Canolog) is a major station on the South Wales Main Line. It is located in the capital of Wales, Cardiff, 144 miles 77 chains (233 km) down the line from London Paddington, via Bristol Parkway,^[1] and 170 miles 30 chains (274 km) measured via Stroud.^[2] It is one of the city's two urban rail network hubs, along with Cardiff Queen Street. Opened in 1850 as Cardiff station, it was renamed Cardiff General in 1924 and then Cardiff Central in 1973.

The station is sited at Central Square, in Cardiff city centre. The Grade II listed building is managed by Transport for Wales Rail, and is both the largest and busiest station in Wales.^[3]

Cardiff Central is one of twenty railway stations in the city and one of two in the city centre, serving as a hub for the Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes. It is an interchange for services between South Wales, West Wales and North Wales, as well as other major British cities.

Transport for Wales Rail operates services to most destinations in Wales and to Manchester, while CrossCountry operates trains to Gloucester, Birmingham and Nottingham. Great Western Railway runs all inter-city services between London Paddington and Swansea via Bristol, as well as some regional services to Bath, Taunton and Portsmouth via Southampton.