The station was opened on 18 June 1850, and both the main platform building and the 1877 pedestrian bridge are Grade II listed. The station was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Services on both branch lines from the station were withdrawn for a time in the 1960s & early 1970s, but because the lines remained in-situ due to coal traffic for the Aberthaw Power Station, each one has since been reopened to passenger services. Platform 3 was a full length platform running east-to-west until the 1970s when it was removed following the closure of the Maesteg line to passenger traffic. The cafe/waiting area of platform 2 now occupies land where the track used to sit. Platform 1A was opened in June 2005 by Andrew Davies to act as the terminus for the newly re-opened Vale of Glamorgan Line, with trains now running through to and from Aberdare. A second, and fully accessible footbridge, was built in 2012 at a cost of £2.4m and the main station ticket hall and entrance was refurbished in 2018 at a cost of £1.5million.
Facilities
The station is fully staffed throughout the week, with the ticket office on platform 1 open from early morning until mid-evening. A self-service ticket machine is also provided for use at other times and for the collection of pre-paid tickets. There is a waiting room and photo booth in the main building on platform 1, whist the amenities on platform 2 include toilets and a coffee shop. Train running details are offered via CIS displays, automatic announcements and timetable posters. Step-free access is available to all platforms via lifts in the accessible footbridge at the eastern end.
Platforms 1 and 2 are full length platforms used for all long distance services on the South Wales Main Line. Platform 1A was opened in 2005 and is a bay platform which acts as the terminus for the Vale of Glamorgan Line. Platform 3 was briefly recommissioned in the early 2000s as an overflow bay platform facing west, and was used for services from, although has since fallen into non-use.''
Accidents and incidents
In December 1965 a fatal collision occurred with a derailed Class 47, D1671, and D6983 travelling to Swansea, as the result of a landslip. The damage was so severe, D6983 was the first EE Type 3 to be withdrawn and as a result, the only locomotive in the entire class not to receive a TOPS number. The wreckage blocked the South Wales mainline and the Vale of Glamorgan line. Trains had to be diverted via the Vale of Neath line until unluckily a landslip blocked that route also. After the lines reopened, the remains of both locomotives were sold to local scrap merchants R.S. Hayes and cut up the following year.
