The first Abertillery station was replaced by a second situated 185 metres (202yd) north in c.1893/4.[7][8] Solidly-built stone buildings were provided on the Up platform.[4] The platforms were constructed of timber in order to reduce the weight on the made-up land on the valley side.[9] Just to the south of the station was Abertillery Junction where a short mineral branch less than a mile long diverged to serve Cwmtillery Colliery from 1858 to 1963.[10][4] The station had 59 employees in 1929 and 48 in 1938.[11] In the 1930s, a combined rail and theatre ticket was issued which allowed passengers from certain stations in the Western valleys of Monmouthshire to travel to Abertillery which at the time had four cinemas.[12]
Passenger services were withdrawn from the station on 30 April 1962 and cessation of goods services followed on 7 April 1969.[13][7][8] The line through the station was singled on 3 May 1971.[14] The route was progressively shortened as collieries were closed, with the last section being taken out of use in 1989 after the closure of Six Bells Colliery.[4][15] The first station had remained open for goods traffic until 1 April 1963 during which period it was designated as "Abertillery Old Yard".[16]
The trackbed is clear up to south of the former station site.[citation needed] However the A467 road has been built on the formation from there northward.[citation needed]
The platform of the old station, albeit entirely cleared of station buildings, remained partly in place into the 1980s until the A467 development began, but a wire fence stood between it and the singled line. Station House, the one-time home of the stationmaster and the one remaining building associated with Abertillery Station, remains as a private dwelling on the town's Oak Street.
Abertillery was initially identified as a potential future phase development of the Ebbw Valley Railway.[17] The preferred location of the station would be the British Gas site to the south of the former Co-op store.[17] The extension of the railway line to Abertillery would involve relaying 2.5 kilometres (1.6 miles) of single-track from Aberbeeg Junction.[17][18][19] In April 2009, a bus link to the nearest station at Llanhilleth was withdrawn after Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council said that it could not continue funding the £200,000 a year service following the ending of Welsh Assembly funding.[20]
In October 2010, it was reported that Sewta had approved recommendations by Capita Symonds for new stations at Abertillery and Crumlin as part of a £14.2 million scheme which would see an hourly service between Abertillery and Cardiff.[21] Negotiations were said to be ongoing with Tesco, the owners of the Co-op site, for the sale of the land.[21] The site would have parking for up to 80 cars, creating a park and ride facility.[21] The estimated cost of extending the line to Abertillery is estimated at £16.7m according to Sewta; part of the trackbed, which is owned by Blaenau Gwent Council, is used as a cycleway but there is thought to be sufficient space for a single track.[22]
However, after the scheme was omitted from the Welsh Government's National Transport Plan for funding priorities until 2015, Welsh Transport Minister Carl SargeantAM confirmed that the new station is not a priority until after 2015.[23]
This line has been identified by Campaign for a Better Transport as a priority 1 candidate for reopening.[24]
Clinker, C.R. (1988) [1978]. Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830–1980 (2nded.). Bristol: Avon-Anglia Publications & Services. ISBN978-0-905466-91-0. OCLC655703233.
Cobb, M.H. (2006) [2003]. The Railways of Great Britain: A Historical Atlas. Vol.1. Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing Ltd. ISBN978-0-7110-3236-1.
Conolly, W. Philip (2004) [1958]. British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer. Hersham, Surrey: Ian Allan. ISBN978-0-7110-0320-0.
Hall, Mike (2009). Lost Railways of South Wales. Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN978-1-84674-172-2.
Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (August 2006). Abertillery and Ebbw Vale Lines. Welsh Valleys. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN978-1-9044-7484-5.
Page, James (1988) [1979]. South Wales. Forgotten Railways. Vol.8. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN0-946537-44-5.
Page, James (1989). Rails in the Valleys. London: Guild Publishing. ISBN978-0-71538-979-9.
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