Cardiff Queen Street railway station () is a railway station serving the north and east of Central Cardiff, Wales. It is the fourth busiest railway station in Wales. It is located near the major thoroughfare of Queen Street and is one of 20 stations in the city. Along with Cardiff Central, it is one of the two major hubs of the Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes local rail network. The station and its services are run by Transport for Wales. In 2014, a reconstruction of the station was completed in order to reduce bottlenecks. Two extra platforms were put in (a previously existing platform, opposite platform 4, and a new platform next to platform 2 for the line to ), taking the total number of platforms to 5. History Early history The first station close to the current site was opened by the Taff Vale Railway in October 1840 and was known as Cardiff Taff Vale. This station initially had one platform; a second was added in 1862 and, at the same time, the head office of the Taff Vale Railway was moved alongside the station. In 1887, Taff Vale station was demolished and replaced by a new station with the current name Cardiff Queen Street. At the time, it comprised two through platforms and a south facing bay, all covered by a large overall roof. In 1858, the Rhymney Railway built its own terminus just to the east of Queen Street called . This was replaced in 1871 by a new station called Cardiff Crockherbtown, a short distance to the north-east of Queen Street. Crockherbtown station was renamed Cardiff (Rhymney) in 1888 and then Cardiff Parade in 1924. The Taff Vale and Rhymney railways became part of the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1922. As there was no longer any need for two rival stations in close proximity, on 15 April 1928, the GWR opened a short connection just north of Queen Street connecting the Rhymney line to the Taff Vale line. This allowed Parade station to be closed and its services diverted to into Queen Street. To accommodate the extra Rhymney line services, Queen Street was enlarged from three to five platforms, with the addition of a new island platform. 1973 rebuild The station remained fairly unaltered until 1973, when it was completely rebuilt by British Rail. The station's overall roof was removed, the original Taff Vale station