Swansea Vale Railway nineteenth century, when land transport was limited to what pack animals could carry on their backs. At that time the extraction of copper in Cornwall became an important industry, and as a great deal of coal is required to smelt copper, it became the practice to bring the copper to Swansea by ship and smelt it there. This specific sector of the metal industry became so dominant that Swansea was given the nickname "Copperopolis". The works engaged in this industry were located on the banks of the River Tawe at first, but the construction of the Swansea Canal, opened in
Swansea Bay Metro Swansea Bay Metro Swansea Bay Metro is a proposed railway enhancement around the Swansea Bay area of South Wales. The project could take up to 10 years to complete. The proposal would see a new line from to station via Swansea Bay, which would allow a 30-minute service between Cardiff and Swansea following the scrapping of plans for electrification between the two cities in July 2017. The project is estimated to cost £1 billion. The project could see reopening of the Neath Valley line through new stations at Neath Abbey, Jersey Marine, Neath and Aberdulais, an on-street connection from Swansea