elaborate 1912 main station façade in the same art nouveau style was destroyed during modernisation in the mid 1970s and replaced by a featureless red brick wall. The station subsequently achieved Listed Building status in 1990 for architectural interest as a fine Edwardian railway station retaining original character. The 1970s façade was itself replaced by a mainly blue brick wall in the 1990s, temporarily exposing the severely damaged Edwardian façade. Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway The Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway (PC&NR) was opened for goods on 25 July 1884, providing a route to Newport Docks for Rhondda coal; the trains were worked by TVR locomotives. Passenger services, which used the TVR's station at Pontypridd, began on 28 December 1887, and were operated by the Alexandra (Newport and South Wales) Docks and Railway (ADR), which absorbed the PC&NR in 1897. Between April 1904 and July 1922, passenger services from terminating at Pontypridd used the ADR's own station at . 1911 accident Also known as the Hopkinstown rail disaster, this accident occurred on 23 January 1911 when a passenger train collided with a coal train at Hopkinstown, outside Pontypridd, resulting in the loss of eleven lives. Great Western Railway The TVR and ADR amalgamated with the Great Western Railway on 1 January 1922, as did the Barry Railway, which also had a station in Pontypridd. To avoid confusion, the two stations were both renamed in 1924, the former TVR station becoming Pontypridd Central, with the ex-Barry Railway station becoming . On 10 July 1930, Pontypridd Graig was closed, with its services being diverted to Pontypridd Central, which reverted to its former name of Pontypridd. British Rail The former PC&NR route was closed to passengers from 17 September 1956. and completely in 1965, whilst the service to Llantrisant ended on 31 March 1952 and the former Barry Railway services to and to Cardiff Central via St Fagans on 10 September 1962. With the Beeching Plan reducing passenger traffic (the line to Aberdare closing in March 1964), and falling coal production, track simplification was carried out by British Rail in 1974, resulting in the removal of all track from the eastern side of the island platform. Effectively, from 1974 onwards, the station functioned as a single-platform station (using old platform 1). However, with the subsequent re-opening of Aberdare and the growth of passenger traffic, British Rail added a new northbound platform in 1990–1991.