Pye Corner railway station is a station serving a residential area in the west of Newport,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, between the suburbs of

Bassaleg Bassaleg ( cy, Basaleg) is a suburb on the west side of Newport, Wales. It is in the Graig electoral ward and community.Bassaleg is located two miles northwest of Newport city centre. Bassaleg is bounded by the A467 road (A4072) to the east, th ...

and High Cross. It opened on 14 December 2014.

History

Proposal

A report published by the

South East Wales Transport Alliance South East Wales Transport Alliance (Sewta) was a consortium established by the 10 local authorities in South East Wales to promote and develop transport strategies and projects in the region. Founded on 1 April 2003, Sewta worked in close liaiso ...

(Sewta) in 2006 envisaged the extension of services on the

Ebbw Valley Railway The Ebbw Valley Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Cwm Ebwy) 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 hou ...

to Newport and the addition of new stations at and Pye Corner. It was forecast that 135,000 journeys would be made to and from Pye Corner which had a catchment population of 19,040 within and 4,312 within . Provision of the station was set as a priority in Sewta's Regional Transport Plan published in 2008 and the aspiration was reflected in

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

's Wales Route Utilisation Strategy published in November 2008. Land for the station was safeguarded in

Newport City Council Newport City Council () is the governing body for Newport, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. It consists of 51 councillors, who represent the city's 20 wards. The council is currently, and has historically been, held by the Labour Party. ...

Unitary Development Plan In United Kingdom planning law, a unitary development plan (UDP) is a development plan prepared by a metropolitan district, London Borough or some unitary local authorities. Background UDPs contains policies equivalent to those in both a str ...

. In March 2012, proposals for a single-platform station, situated to the east of the line and accessed from a new road junction on Western Valley Road opposite High Cross Lane, were put out to consultation. The plans included provision for a second platform to be provided at a later date. In March 2013, the Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin, announced that Pye Corner was a "front-runner" in terms of funding for new stations, along with and . The grant of £2.5m was confirmed in May 2013, to which the

Welsh Government , image = , caption = , date_established = , country = Wales , address = , leader_title = First Minister () , appointed = First Minister approved by the Senedd, ceremonially appointed ...

would add a further £1m. The station's location is close to the former Bassaleg Junction station.

Construction

In February 2014, a planning application for the station was passed by Newport City Council, with planners recommending the construction of a screen or fence to protect the privacy of properties adjacent to the station which back on to the line. The first train to arrive at the station on the opening day of 14 December 2014 was the 09:15 from Ebbw Vale.

Services

On Mondays to Saturdays, there are four trains an hour, alternating between and and and services. On Sundays, the hourly Cardiff to Ebbw Vale service runs via Newport.

References

Notes

Sources

External links

Archive of Ebbw Valley Railway Scheme website
(

Blaenau Gwent council Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor bwrdeistref Sirol Blaenau Gwent) is the governing body for Blaenau Gwent, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. History The borough council was created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 197 ...

, 2008) {{Cardiff, Newport and the Valleys railway stations Railway stations in Newport, Wales Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 2014 Railway stations opened by Network Rail 2014 establishments in Wales Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail