Pontnewynydd railway station

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

Pontnewynydd
LocationPontnewynydd, Torfaen
Wales
Coordinates51.710661°N 3.053108°W / 51.710661; -3.053108
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyMonmouthshire Railway and Canal Company
Pre-groupingGreat Western Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Key dates
1795Blaenavon Tramroad opens
1 June 1854MR&CC line opened
30 April 1962Station closed
May 1962Line closed

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area and in an era when passenger rail transport was in decline a number of local services in Monmouthshire were withdrawn by the British Transport Commission as an operational measure.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

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