The railway south from here was opened by the Rhymney Railway in 1858 as far as Hengoed and Walnut Tree Junction (giving access to Cardiff Central via the Taff Vale Railway by 1864), with a link northwards to Rhymney Bridge (on the Merthyr to Abergavenny 'Heads of the Valley' line) following in 1871. This was operated jointly with the London and North Western Railway. In the same year the current route through Caerphilly was opened by the Rhymney company, removing the need for its trains to use TVR metals to reach Cardiff. Services to the north ended in 1953 with the closure of the joint line to Rhymney Bridge to passenger traffic (with complete closure following in November 1954). The section down to Bargoed was also subsequently singled and the station reduced in size, with the decommissioning of the old island platform. This remained intact but disused for many years, but was demolished in 2007 when the stabling sidings were relaid and re-aligned.
Services
The Monday to Saturday daytime service pattern is two trains an hour to Cardiff Central: one continues to Barry Island and one to Bridgend. The Bridgend service skips intermediate stops between Rhymney and Bargoed.