The GWR passenger service settled down to four trains each way each weekday, with an additional return trip on Saturdays and on the day of a monthly agricultural fair at Crymmych. The GWR was simply working the line, which was still owned by the shareholders, and when receipts declined they felt themselves powerless to change matters. It was only a matter of time before full absorption by the Great Western Railway was the obvious next step, and this was authorised by a section of the Great Western Railway Act 1890, dated 4 August, and taking retrospective effect from 1 July 1890. The line was now simply the Cardigan branch of the GWR.