Gloucester to Newport Line

Gloucester to Newport Line
Overview
Type	Suburban rail, Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	South East Wales, Severn Estuary, Gloucestershire
Termini	Gloucester Newport
Stations	6 (14 disused)
Operation
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	Arriva Trains Wales CrossCountry First Great Western
Rolling stock	Class 43 HST Class 57 Class 67 Class 142 "Pacer" Class 143 "Pacer" Class 150 "Sprinter" Class 158 "Express Sprinter" Class 170 "Turbostar" Class 175 "Coradia"
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) Standard gauge
Electrification	No

Gloucester to Newport Line

Legend Cross Country Route Gloucester River Severn Ledbury and Gloucester Railway Oakle Street Grange Court Hereford, Ross & Gloucester Railway Westbury-on-Severn Halt Newnham Ruddle Road Halt Severn and Wye Railway Awre for Blakeney Forest of Dean Central Railway Severn Railway Bridge Severn Bridge Sharpness Branch Line Lydney Junction / Lydney Lydney Harbour Branch Dean Forest Railway Woolaston Wye Valley Railway Tutshill Halt Chepstow East River Wye(Chepstow Railway Bridge) Chepstow M48 Severn Bridge Portskewett South Wales Main Line Sudbrook Tunnel Pumps Caerwent training area Severn Tunnel Caldicot Severn Tunnel Junction M4 Second Severn Crossing Undy Halt Magor River Severn Steel works Llanwern Uskmouth Power Station Welsh Marches Line River Usk Monmouthshire Railway Newport South Wales Main Line

The Gloucester to Newport Line is a railway line that runs along the bank of the River Severn in the United Kingdom between Gloucester and Newport.

Originally part of the South Wales Railway on the main route from London before the construction of the Severn Tunnel; today it is an important link between the West Midlands and South Wales

Route

The places served by the route are:

• Gloucester
  • Connections along the Golden Valley Line to Swindon
• Lydney
  • Connection with Dean Forest Railway
• Chepstow
• Caldicot
• Severn Tunnel Junction located in Rogiet
• Newport
  • Connections with South Wales Main Line and Welsh Marches Line

Local passenger services are currently provided by Arriva Trains Wales, with an approximately hourly service in each direction on the Cheltenham Spa to Maesteg service. These are supplemented by CrossCountry services between Cardiff Central and Nottingham, which serve Gloucester and Newport, but do not serve either Lydney or Chepstow any of the intermediate stations except during the early morning and late evening.

Though Caldicot and Severn Tunnel Junction stations are only ¾ mile apart, Caldicot's centrality kept it open in 1964 when other small stations were closed under The Reshaping of British Railways. Severn Tunnel Junction serves the village of Rogiet and is where this line merges with the South Wales Main Line through the Severn Tunnel, so it is also a stop on the Cardiff-Bristol service.

In 1977 the Parliamentary Select Committee on Nationalised Industries recommmended considering electrification of more of Britain's rail network, and by 1979 BR presented a range of options to do so by 2000. Options included electrifying numerous former Great Western routes including the Gloucester to Newport line. Under the 1979–90 Conservative governments that succeeded the 1976–79 Labour government the proposal was not implemented.

Sources

• Anonymous (Winter 1979). Railway Electrification. British Railways Board (Central Publicity Unit). pp. 0–2, 8. 

External links

• Dudley Mall - Railway directory - Cheltenham Spa to Cardiff Central