limited shipping capacity. They promoted a railway from Coity Junction, just north of Bridgend, to Barry along a route near the coast, joining the Barry Railway west of the Barry Dock. The result was the Vale of Glamorgan Railway Act of 26 August 1889. Nominally independent, it was supported in Parliament by the Barry Railway, and when constructed it was equipped and operated by the Barry Railway. The company was unable to raise the necessary subscriptions, and the Barry Railway was obliged to guarantee a 4% return to VoGR shareholders, authorised by Act of 1893. This effectively put the VoGR under the control of the Barry Railway. The line opened on 1 December 1897. A viaduct experienced subsidence and the line was closed again between Barry and Rhoose on 10 January 1898. A temporary diversion line was laid round the viaduct and it opened on 25 April 1898 enabling reopening of the through route. The viaduct was secured and the original route reopened on 8 January 1900 for goods, and 9 April 1900 for passenger trains. A new line from Swansea to London Dissatisfaction with the Great Western Railway continued to be a factor. The Severn Tunnel had been opened in 1886, but the GWR route to London was still via Bristol and Bath. A South Wales Direct Line had been proposed for some years, but the GWR was reluctant to build it. Promoters, chiefly coal owners and those associated with the Vale of Glamorgan Railway and the Barry Railway, put together a scheme for a London and South Wales Railway in November 1895. At 163 miles in length, it was to run from Cogan via Cardiff and skirting Newport on the north side, crossing the River Severn at Beachley by a new 3,300 yard bridge, then via Thornbury, Malmesbury and Lechlade, to make a junction with the Metropolitan Railway near Great Missenden. Junctions would be made with every railway intersected, except the Great Western; the scheme was costed at £5,688,252. At the same time, the Vale of Glamorgan Railway promoted a Bill for a new line westward from Ewenny via Porthcawl and Port Talbot to join the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway at Aberavon. Barrie says, "Beyond all reasonable doubt, the real object of the London & South Wales promoters was to force the Great Western Railway to carry out its South Wales Direct Line, and to make certain