General information | |
---|---|
Location | Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent Wales |
Coordinates | 51°45′24″N3°11′46″W / 51.7567°N 3.1961°W |
Grid reference | SO175070 |
Owned by | Network Rail |
Managed by | Transport for Wales |
Platforms | 1 |
Other information | |
Station code | EBV |
Classification | DfT category F1 |
History | |
Original company | Network Rail |
Key dates | |
August 1852 | Opened as Victoria (Blaenau Gwent) |
30 April 1962 | Closed |
6 February 2008 | Reopened as Ebbw Vale Parkway |
Passengers | |
2018/19 | 38,834 |
2019/20 | 44,100 |
2020/21 | 7,654 |
2021/22 | 24,918 |
2022/23 | 30,452 |
Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road |
Ebbw Vale Parkway railway station (Welsh :Gorsaf reilffordd Parcffordd Glyn Ebwy) is a station on the Ebbw Valley Railway in Wales. The station opened on 6 February 2008 when services to and from Cardiff Central commenced after 46 years of being a freight-only line. A northwards extension of the line to a new terminus at Ebbw Vale Town opened on 17 May 2015,which accounts for the drop in usage in 2015–16. A direct service to Newport was expected to commence in 2018 following double-tracking and re-signalling works between Aberbeeg and Crosskeys,but this has now been pushed back to 2021. [1]
The station has been built on the site of the former Victoria station in the Victoria area of the Ebbw Vale conurbation. It consists of a single platform adjacent to Glan Ebbw Terrace,close to the A4046 Station Road.
Today,the current service is one train per hour to Cardiff Central calling at Llanhilleth,Newbridge,Crosskeys,Risca,Rogerstone,Pye Corner and Cardiff Central,departing at 40 minutes past each hour. The journey times to Cardiff is approximately fifty minutes. Occasional services continue beyond Cardiff to Swansea,Bridgend or Maesteg. [2]
Services are usually operated by Class 150 Sprinter units,although Class 142 &Class 143 Pacer units,Class 158 Express Sprinter and Class 175 Coradia units have been cleared to work the line.
Demand for travel to and from the station was seriously under-estimated by the promoters of the line's reopening,even though the service provided was to Cardiff only and not to Newport as well,as originally assumed. For example,in 2008–09,usage at the station was forecast to be 50,000,for journeys on the lines to Cardiff and to Newport,but was actually about 250,000,for journeys on the line to Cardiff only. Part of the reason for the demand underforecast was the requirement that no demand from regeneration of the former steelworks area should be assumed. [3]
Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Ebbw Vale Town | Transport for Wales Ebbw Vale Town –Cardiff Central | Llanhilleth |
The station is a thirty eight minute walk (1.8 miles) from Ebbw Vale bus station (known as Inner Bypass), which is the terminus for a number of Stagecoach South Wales services to Cardiff, Abergavenny, Brynmawr, Tredegar, and other nearby villages.
The station is closest served by the bus stop at Waunlwyd on the A4046. There are bus connections from here to nearby communities such as Cwm, the Garden Festival Shopping site, Ysbyty Aneurin Bevan and Ebbw Vale Town itself.
A plaque at the railway station commemorates local MP and Assembly Member Peter Law, who died in 2006, in honour of his work to re-open the line. [4]
Bristol Parkway, on the South Wales Main Line, is in the Stoke Gifford area in the northern suburbs of the Bristol conurbation. It is 112 miles (180 km) from London Paddington. The station was opened in 1972 by British Rail. It is the third-most heavily used station in the West of England local authority area, after Bristol Temple Meads and Bath Spa. There are four platforms, and a well-equipped waiting area. The station is managed by Great Western Railway, who provide most of the trains at the station, with CrossCountry providing the rest.
Arriva Trains Wales was a British train operating company owned by Arriva UK Trains that operated the Wales & Borders franchise. It ran urban and inter-urban passenger services to all railway stations in Wales, including Cardiff Central, Cardiff Queen Street, Newport, Swansea, Wrexham General and Holyhead, as well as to certain stations in England such as Hereford, Shrewsbury, Chester, Crewe, Manchester Piccadilly and Birmingham New Street.
Cardiff Central railway station is a major station on the South Wales Main Line, located in the capital of Wales, Cardiff, 170 miles 30 chains (274 km) from London Paddington. It is one of the city's two urban rail network hubs, along with Cardiff Queen Street. Opened in 1850 as Cardiff station, it was renamed Cardiff General in 1924, and then Cardiff Central in 1973.
Newport is the second-busiest railway station in Wales, after Cardiff Central). It is situated in Newport city centre and 158 miles 50 chains (255.3 km) from London Paddington, via Stroud.
Bridgend railway station is a main line station serving the town of Bridgend, south Wales. It is located approximately halfway between Cardiff Central and Swansea stations, at the point where the Maesteg Line diverges from the South Wales Main Line; it is also the western terminus of the Vale of Glamorgan Line from Cardiff. It is 190 miles 45 chains (306.7 km) measured from the zero point at London Paddington, via Stroud.
The Ebbw Valley Railway is a branch line of the South Wales Main Line in South Wales. Transport for Wales Rail provides an hourly passenger service each way between Ebbw Vale Town and Cardiff Central, and an hourly service each way between Crosskeys and Newport.
Coryton railway station serves Coryton and Pantmawr in Cardiff, Wales. It is the terminus of the Coryton Line 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Cardiff Central via Cardiff Queen Street.
Rogerstone railway station is a station on the Ebbw Valley Railway in the community of Rogerstone in Newport, south Wales. The station is situated ½ mile north of the original station on the site of former rail sidings. The station is within the Afon Village housing development. Access to the single-platform station and associated car park is off Lily Way.
Risca and Pontymister railway station is a station on the Ebbw Valley Railway in south-east Wales. It serves the village of Pontymister and the town of Risca. It is located roughly ½ mile south of the original Risca railway station.
Crosskeys railway station is a station serving the village of Crosskeys in the Caerphilly County Borough in Wales. It is on the Ebbw Valley Railway.
Newbridge railway station is on the Ebbw Valley Railway and serves the towns of Newbridge and Blackwood in south east Wales. The current station is on the site of the former station and coal yard in the town centre opposite the former Co-op Food store and existing council car park. The station car park and access to platform 2 is off a signalised junction on Bridge Street, with pedestrian access to platform 1 via Celynen Road.
Llanhilleth railway station is a railway station on the Ebbw Valley Railway and serves the village of Llanhilleth, Wales.
Pye Corner railway station is a station serving a residential area in the west of Newport, Wales, between the suburbs of Bassaleg and High Cross. It opened on 14 December 2014.
Bassaleg is a suburb on the west side of Newport, Wales. It is in the Graig electoral ward and community.
Transport in Cardiff, capital and most populous city in Wales involves road, rail, bus, water and air. It is a major city of the United Kingdom and a centre of employment, government, retail, business, culture, media, sport and higher education.
Ebbw Vale Town railway station serves the town centre of Ebbw Vale in Blaenau Gwent, Wales, serving as the terminus of the Ebbw Valley Railway.
The Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company was a canal and railway company that operated a canal and a network of railways in the Western Valley and Eastern Valley of Newport, Monmouthshire. It started as the Monmouthshire Canal Navigation and opened canals from Newport to Pontypool and to Crumlin from 1796. Numerous tramroads connected nearby pits and ironworks with the canal.
Rail transport in Cardiff has developed to provide connections to many other major cities in the United Kingdom, and to provide an urban rail network for the city and its commuter towns in southeast Wales. Today, there are three train operating companies in Cardiff: Great Western Railway, CrossCountry and Transport for Wales.
The South Wales Metro is an integrated heavy rail, light rail and bus-based public transport services and systems network currently being developed in South East Wales around the hub of Cardiff Central. The first phase was approved for development in October 2013. Works are currently under way, with a brand new depot under construction at Taff's Well and new trains being built by Stadler Rail in Switzerland. The development will also include the electrification of the core Valley Lines and new stations.
Ebbw Vale bus station, also known as Inner Bypass, is a bus terminus located in the town centre of Ebbw Vale, South Wales.