Risca railway station

Risca railway station
General information
Location	Risca Wales
Coordinates	51°36′32″N3°05′59″W / 51.6089°N 3.0998°W / 51.6089; -3.0998
Grid reference	ST239905
Platforms	4
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company
Pre-grouping	Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Key dates
23 December 1850	Opened
30 April 1962	Closed
6 February 2008	Reopened as Risca and Pontymister

Risca railway station was a station on the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company Western Valley line, later the Great Western Railway. It was located at Station Place, just south of the junction where the line split left towards Nine Mile Point (and eventually Tredegar) and right towards Ebbw Vale. It served the town of Risca.

History

The Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company (MRCC) had been running the canals and horse-drawn carriages on their tram-roads which went through Risca from 1795. ^[1] After 1802 the MRCC built a tramway from Nine Mile Point, west of Risca, to Newport, and an associated company, the Sirhowy Tramroad, connected there from Tredegar.

The first steam locomotive passenger train ran on the MRCC Western Valley line on Monday 23 December 1850, with service running twice in each direction (to Ebbw Vale and to Newport) each weekday. ^[2]

The station was expanded to 4 through lines and platforms in June 1910 as traffic grew.

Passenger services on the line ended in 1962. ^[3]

Goods services from Tredegar Junction to Risca Junction closed on 4 May 1970. ^[4]

Viaduct

Risca Long Bridge was a fine masonry viaduct with thirty-two arches that was built in 1805 to carry the tramroad across the Ebbw Valley flood plain. It was constructed from red pennant sandstone by the engineer of the Sirhowy Tramroad, John Hodgkinson. The bridge was redundant by 1859 and was demolished in 1902. Local houses have been built from its stone and the east abutment is the only remaining fragment. ^{[5] [6]} The viaduct was 48 ft high (14.6m) and had 32 arches. It was designed so that housing could be constructed below the arches.

Present day

A new station named Risca and Pontymister was opened on 6 February 2008 as part of the reopened Ebbw Valley Railway. It is located roughly ½ mile south east of the original Risca railway station.

Station Road, Station Place and the Railway Tavern are clues to the site which remain to this day. The station house and goods shed buildings remain adjacent to the line.

Notes

1. Skillern, WJ (July 1960). "The Railways of Newport". The Railway Magazine. 107 (711).
2. "Advertising". Charles Hough. Monmouthshire Merlin. 4 January 1851. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
3. Vay Le, Julian; Benedict Le Vay (1 December 2014). Britain from the Rails: Including the nation's best-kept-secret railways. Bradt Travel Guides. pp. 271–. ISBN   978-1-84162-919-3.
4. Hurst (1991), p. 61, note 2751.
5. "Risca Long Bridge, Tramroad Viaduct, Risca (308291)". Coflein. RCAHMW . Retrieved 14 October 2021.
6. Guy, Andy; Rees, Jim (24 May 2011). Early Railways: 1569-1830. Bloomsbury USA. p. 38. ISBN   978-0-7478-0811-4.

References

• Tasker, W.W. (1986). The Merthyr, Tredegar & Abergavenny Railway and branches. Poole: Oxford Publishing Co. ISBN   978-0-86093-339-7.
• Tasker, W.W. (1992) [1978]. Railways in the Sirhowy Valley. Oxford: Oakwood Press. ISBN   0-85361-415-6.
• Hall, Mike (2009). Lost Railways of South Wales. Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN   978-1-84674-172-2.
• Hurst, Geoffrey (1991). Register of Closed Railways 1948–1991 . Milepost Publications. ISBN   0-947796-18-5.

Route

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Ebbw Vale		Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company Ebbw Valley Railway		Tynycwm Halt
Nine Mile Point		Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company to Sirhowy Railway		Tynycwm Halt