Pontnewynydd railway station

Former railway station in Wales

51°42′38″N 3°03′11″W / 51.710661°N 3.053108°W / 51.710661; -3.053108Platforms2Other informationStatusDisusedHistoryOriginal companyMonmouthshire Railway and Canal CompanyPre-groupingGreat Western RailwayPost-groupingGreat Western RailwayKey dates1795Blaenavon Tramroad opens1 June 1854MR&CC line opened30 April 1962Station closedMay 1962Line closed

Pontnewynydd railway station served Pontnewynydd village in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire.

History

In 1795 the Blaenavon Tramroad was opened from Pontnewynydd to Blaenavon Ironworks with branches to Abersychan, Varteg and Cwm Ffrwd to carry iron nearly 6 miles from Blaenavon Ironworks to the Monmouthshire Canal at Pontnewynydd. The line was modified to a standard gauge railway in 1854 by the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company.

The station (on the Newport - Blaenavon line) closed in April 1962, which was more than a year before the "Beeching Axe". In financial terms the line was doing no worse than any of the other lines in the South Wales valleys but, like the local ironworks, the closure of the railway line was also linked to the opening of Llanwern steelworks. The amount of freight traffic the new plant generated was causing severe rail congestion in the Newport area and in an era when passenger rail transport was in decline a number of local services in Monmouthshire were withdrawn by the British Transport Commission as an operational measure.


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Snatchwood Halt
Line and station closed
  Great Western Railway
Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company
  Pontypool Crane Street
Line and station closed

The site today

The site is now a car park.

References

  • Photo of station