Train stations in Cardiff

Most visitors arrive at Cardiff Central, five minutes on foot from the market and ten from the castle. Queen Street, on the other side of the centre, is the stop for Cardiff Bay.

Which Cardiff station to use

Cardiff Central (Caerdydd Canolog) is the main station. Great Western Railway (GWR), Transport for Wales (TfW) and CrossCountry all call here, so it is the one for London, Bristol, Swansea, Manchester and Birmingham. Cardiff Queen Street is the smaller city-centre station for local TfW trains: the Valleys lines to Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, and the shuttle to Cardiff Bay. The Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil trains call at Queen Street first and then at Central, so you can use either.

The ticket office at Central opens 05:40 to 21:30 Monday to Saturday and 07:30 to 21:30 on Sunday. At Queen Street it opens 06:00 to 22:00 Monday to Saturday and 07:00 to 19:00 on Sunday. Both stations have step-free access to every platform. Central has no left-luggage service.

From Cardiff Central into the city

Central faces Principality Stadium, beside the River Taff. Cardiff Market is a 5-minute walk from the station and Cardiff Castle a 10-minute walk. Cardiff Queen Street is about a 15-minute walk from the stadium. The taxi rank is on Saunders Road, to the right as you leave by the main north exit.

Cardiff Bus runs the city buses. A single in the Cardiff zone costs £2.60 and a Day to Go ticket £5.20, paid by contactless or with exact cash because drivers give no change.

Trains from Cardiff Central

GWR runs the London Paddington trains, usually two an hour on weekdays, in about 1 hour 50 minutes. The fastest take 1 hour 48 minutes. On Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November 2026, and from 27 December 2026 to 3 January 2027, most London trains run from London Euston instead of Paddington and do not call at Reading or Didcot Parkway. GWR also runs to Bristol Temple Meads in about 50 minutes, and along the south coast to Portsmouth Harbour about every hour on weekdays in about 3 hours 20 minutes.

Both GWR and TfW run to Swansea, in between about 50 minutes and 1 hour 15 minutes depending on the train. TfW runs the other main routes:

• Manchester Piccadilly: about 3 hours 20 minutes, roughly hourly, via Newport, Hereford, Shrewsbury and Crewe.
• Holyhead: about 4 hours 55 minutes on the through trains, which run several times a day.

CrossCountry links Cardiff Central with Newport, Gloucester, Cheltenham Spa, Birmingham New Street and Nottingham, roughly hourly. Times here are for the timetable that runs until 12 December 2026.

Cardiff Bay and the Valleys

Trains to Cardiff Bay leave from Queen Street, not Central, and take 4 minutes. They run about every 15 minutes from 06:32 to 23:48 Monday to Saturday and from 09:03 on Sundays. From Central, change at Queen Street or take the 6 Baycar bus from the Cardiff Bus Interchange outside Central, which serves the Wales Millennium Centre and the Senedd about every 30 minutes.

Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil trains each run about every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday.

Match days at Principality Stadium

After events a queuing system runs outside Central. For the Wales autumn internationals on 7, 14 and 21 November 2026, TfW sends passengers for the Valleys and the Vale of Glamorgan to Queen Street. Everyone else, including Ebbw Vale and Maesteg passengers, queues at Central, and an accessibility queue runs at both. Buy your ticket before you enter the queue. GWR runs extra trains to Cardiff Central, and its trains before each match are reservation only, so book a seat when you buy the ticket. Roads close from 12:30 to 21:00 on 7 November, 10:00 to 18:15 on 14 November and from 16:00 on 21 November. The Cardiff Bus Interchange closes for the same hours and the Saunders Road taxi rank closes from shortly before each closure until midnight.

Cardiff Airport

Take a train to Rhoose and then the 905 shuttle bus to the terminal. TfW sells one ticket for both, called Cardiff Airport via Rhoose in the TfW app, and puts the whole journey from Central at 48 minutes. Rhoose trains run every hour, and every two hours on Sundays.

Tickets

Advance singles are the cheapest fares for longer journeys. They go on sale about 12 weeks ahead, are valid only on the booked train, and TfW sells them until five minutes before departure with no booking fee. A railcard takes up to a third off. Peak times on TfW are 04:30 to 09:30 and 16:00 to 18:29 Monday to Friday, and Off-Peak tickets may not be valid for journeys that start then.

Buy before you board. TfW's penalty fare is £20 or twice the full single fare, whichever is greater. Contactless pay as you go works at Central and Queen Street on TfW and CrossCountry trains but not on GWR. Tap in and tap out with the same card, or TfW charges £10 for an incomplete journey.

Rail passes and reservations

As of October 2026, Interrail covers GWR, TfW and CrossCountry, and the Interrail Great Britain Pass covers England, Scotland and Wales. None of the trains that call at Cardiff needs a reservation, except GWR's trains before the November internationals. Seat reservations are recommended on GWR and CrossCountry, and pass holders can reserve GWR day trains through GWR.