Newport railway station: Difference between revisions
m robot Adding: pl:Newport High Street |
explaining why Newport(SW) |
||
| Line 22: | Line 22: | ||
Minutes of the Meeting of the Board held on 22 November 2007|publisher=Newport Unlimited|date=2007-11-22|accessdate=2008-02-05}}</ref> or more commonly '''Newport''' ([[Welsh language|Welsh]]: ''Casnewydd Stryd Fawr'') is the 3rd busiest railway station in [[Wales]] (after [[Cardiff Central railway station|Cardiff Central]] and [[Cardiff Queen Street railway station|Cardiff Queen Street]]), situated in the heart of the city of [[Newport]]. It is operated by [[Arriva Trains Wales]]. The main station entrance is located on Queensway, and a small section of road known as Station Approach links this to the High Street. The station was originally opened in 1850 by the [[South Wales Railway]] Company and was greatly expanded in 1928. |
Minutes of the Meeting of the Board held on 22 November 2007|publisher=Newport Unlimited|date=2007-11-22|accessdate=2008-02-05}}</ref> or more commonly '''Newport''' ([[Welsh language|Welsh]]: ''Casnewydd Stryd Fawr'') is the 3rd busiest railway station in [[Wales]] (after [[Cardiff Central railway station|Cardiff Central]] and [[Cardiff Queen Street railway station|Cardiff Queen Street]]), situated in the heart of the city of [[Newport]]. It is operated by [[Arriva Trains Wales]]. The main station entrance is located on Queensway, and a small section of road known as Station Approach links this to the High Street. The station was originally opened in 1850 by the [[South Wales Railway]] Company and was greatly expanded in 1928. |
||
Although officially named ''Newport High Street'', the suffix ''High Street'' became unnecessary on the closure of Mill Street and Dock Street stations to goods traffic in the 1960s<ref>Railway Magazine, July 1960</ref>. Printed tickets and National rail enquiries use the suffix "South Wales". |
Although officially named ''Newport High Street'', the suffix ''High Street'' became unnecessary on the closure of Mill Street and Dock Street stations to goods traffic in the 1960s<ref>Railway Magazine, July 1960</ref>. Printed tickets and National rail enquiries use the suffix "South Wales" to differentiate this station from its [[Newport (Essex) railway station|namesake]] in Essex. |
||
==Services== |
==Services== |
||
Revision as of 13:51, 10 April 2008
51°35′23″N 2°59′56″W / 51.5896°N 2.9990°W
Newport | |
|---|---|
-viewfromeast-01.jpg) | |
| General information | |
| Other names | Casnewydd |
| Location | Newport |
| Managed by | Arriva Trains Wales |
| Platforms | 4 |
| Other information | |
| Station code | NWP |
| Key dates | |
| June 18 1850 | Opened |
| 1880 | Enlarged |
| 1928 | Enlarged |
Newport High Street railway station[1] or more commonly Newport (Welsh: Casnewydd Stryd Fawr) is the 3rd busiest railway station in Wales (after Cardiff Central and Cardiff Queen Street), situated in the heart of the city of Newport. It is operated by Arriva Trains Wales. The main station entrance is located on Queensway, and a small section of road known as Station Approach links this to the High Street. The station was originally opened in 1850 by the South Wales Railway Company and was greatly expanded in 1928.
Although officially named Newport High Street, the suffix High Street became unnecessary on the closure of Mill Street and Dock Street stations to goods traffic in the 1960s[2]. Printed tickets and National rail enquiries use the suffix "South Wales" to differentiate this station from its namesake in Essex.
Services
Newport is currently served by three train operating companies: Arriva Trains Wales, CrossCountry and First Great Western.
Arriva Trains Wales operate hourly services between Cardiff Central and Manchester Piccadilly, with some trains extended beyond Cardiff to Swansea, Carmarthen or Milford Haven. There are also hourly services from Cardiff to North Wales. In addition, there are hourly local services between Maesteg and Gloucester, via Cardiff and Newport.
CrossCountry operate an hourly service from Cardiff to Nottingham, via Birmingham New Street. They also run a daily service to Newcastle, via Bristol and Birmingham.
First Great Western operate a half-hourly express service to London Paddington and Cardiff Central, with trains often continuing to Swansea, and also services to Bristol Temple Meads, which often continue to Portsmouth Harbour, Weymouth, Westbury, Frome or Taunton.
History
The current station layout consists of four through-platforms numbered 1 to 4 from the south side. The original broad gauge station had only two 200ft-long through platforms and a bay platform at the east end of the down platform. On the closure of Dock Street and Mill Street stations to passengers in 1880, High Street station was greatly expanded: The up platform was made into an island - the north face 825ft in length, and the south side 814ft. The down platform was extended to 897ft with the west end bay extended to 428ft. Two scissors crossovers were provided on these new platforms, effectively dividing them into two. The original down platform became Nos. 1 and 2. The bay became No. 3, the south face of the up platform Nos. 4 and 5 and the north face Nos. 6 and 7. The bay platform was mostly used for Monmouthshire western valleys services, but with the quadrupling of the line in 1912 trains from the bay platform (on the south side) now had to cross the entire station to get to the Gaer Tunnel on the north side. To address this the former loading dock on the north side of the station was made into a passenger platform (No. 8).
April 1961 saw the introduction of colour Multiple-Aspect Signalling and associated modifications to the station layout. The north face of the island platform became the new up platform, with the south face becoming the new down. The platforms were also renumbered in the opposite direction, with No. 8 becoming No. 1, Nos. 6/7 becoming 2/3, Nos. 4/5 remained the same and Nos. 1/2 were combined as a new No. 6. Subsequent removal of the scissors crossovers saw a further combination and renumbering of platforms to the current layout.
Facilities
Platform 1 is generally only used during peak hours and usually for trains heading towards Cardiff Central. Platform 2 is the usual stopping point for all westbound services towards Cardiff Central including First Great Western services continuing to Swansea. Platform 3 is the stopping point for eastbound trains to London Paddington and First services to South England, Bristol Temple Meads, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Manchester, North Wales and the Midlands. Platform 4 is the stopping point for Arriva Trains Wales services to Gloucester and First Great Western services to Weymouth and will also be used by trains to Ebbw Vale following the full re-opening of the Ebbw Valley Line.
A British Transport Police station and a branch of WH Smith are situated on platform 1. The waiting room and customer toilets are situated between platforms 2 and 3, as is the Upper Crust café. Also between platforms 2 and 3 is a customer help desk. The booking hall is situated between the main entrance and platform 1. There are three main windows for tickets for immediate travel and a travel centre which handles enquiries, complaints and issues tickets for future travel. In the booking hall there is also a small buffet, telephones, automatic ticket machines and a photo booth. Wheelchair access between platforms is provided by a subway, accessed by a lift from the platforms. Also, a ramp from platforms 2 and 3 leads into a subway that links Mill Street to the city centre. There is a short-stay car park and taxi rank situated to the front and a long-stay car park to the rear which is accessible via a footbridge from all platforms. Since October 2005, automatic ticket barriers have been installed. In November 2006, Arriva installed alarms on the fire doors in the subway, which was commonly used as a method of avoiding ticket purchasing. As these doors lead straight into a public subway under the station, the ticketless customer would avoid the automatic ticket barriers. At the same time, the ticket barriers are being used more often, before used during peak periods and match days, now manned throughout the day until late in the evening.
Future developments
The Welsh Assembly Government and Network Rail have agreed a £20 million makeover for the station that will provide a new concourse, a second pedestrian bridge over the tracks and a user-friendly bus-rail interchange at the station. The plans also include an extended platform 4 capable of accommodating up to twelve-carriage intercity trains and a new multi-storey car park for long-stay travellers. The first phase, platform 4 extension, was completed on July 2 2007.[3]
Unfortunately, the redevelopment of Platform 4 did not allow for disabled access. This will be addressed in a further development of the station before the 2010 Ryder Cup, where a lift will be installed to Platform 4, together with a second passenger bridge for the whole station, a new bus station developed and the multi-storey car park completed. In the meantime, station staff are using a locally contracted taxi firm at £3 a passenger to move disabled and elderly passengers the half mile from one side of the station to the other, in a complimentary service provision.[4]
There is a campaign to change the name of the station to Newport City railway station[1]
See also
- Railway stations in Newport
- Pontypool, Caerleon and Newport Railway
- Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway
- List of railway stations in Wales
References
- ^ a b "Newport Unlimited Minutes of the Meeting of the Board held on 22 November 2007". Newport Unlimited. 2007-11-22. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
{{cite web}}: line feed character in|title=at position 18 (help) - ^ Railway Magazine, July 1960
- ^ http://www.newportunlimited.co.uk/10481.file.dld
- ^ Taxis used between rail platforms BBC News - 17 August 2007
- South Wales Main Line - Newport ISBN 1874103763
External links
- Train times and station information for Newport railway station from National Rail
| Valley lines | |
|---|---|
| Other lines | |
| Major stations | |
| Cardiff stations | |
| Newport stations | |
| Valley Lines stations |
|
| Other stations | |
| Proposed stations | |
