The station was opened in 1863 by the Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway. Torpantau is a remote location, though a few passengers may have worked on the local dams, or fished there for leisure. The location was most significant in operational terms for watering engines and tying down brakes before a descent.
In 1916 a train passed a signal at danger near the station causing a collision that killed two people.
The line and the station first became part of the Great Western Railway (GWR) during the grouping of 1923, and then part of British Railways (BR) in 1948, following the nationalisation of the railways consequent upon the Transport Act 1947.
Torpantau closed to passengers in December 1962, but the line was retained for freight workings to Brecon until 4 May 1964. The route was subsequently abandoned, and the track lifted.
Pontsticill Reservoir or Taf Fechan Reservoir is a large reservoir on the Taf Fechan lying partly in the county of Powys and partly within the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales. It lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park and Fforest Fawr Geopark.