Cwmbran railway station

This article is about the railway station opened in 1986. For the Great Western Railway station, see Cwmbran railway station (Great Western Railway).

Cwmbran railway station (Welsh: Gorsaf Rheilffordd Cwmbrân) is in the northeast of Cwmbran town centre, within five minutes' walking distance. It is part of the British railway system owned by Network Rail and is managed by Transport for Wales, who operate all trains serving it. It lies on the Welsh Marches Line from Newport to Hereford. The station was opened at this site in 1986 to serve the commuter route to Newport and Cardiff, and shoppers to the town centre.

Cwmbran Welsh: Cwmbrân
General information
Location	Cwmbran, Torfaen Wales
Coordinates	51.6572°N 3.0160°W / 51.6572; -3.0160
Grid reference	ST298958
Managed by	Transport for Wales
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	CWM
Classification	DfT category E
History
Opened	12 May 1986
Passengers
2019/20	0.413 million
2020/21	0.107 million
2021/22	0.263 million
2022/23	0.353 million
2023/24	0.385 million
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

Historically, a number of railway stations served Cwmbran. The first station was opened by the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company in July 1852. This closed on 11 March 1880 and a new station was opened on the same day by the Great Western Railway.^[1][2] The station was located on a spur which linked the Monmouthshire Railway with the Pontypool, Caerleon and Newport Railway.^[3] This closed to passengers on 30 April 1962^[1][2] and to goods on 17 May 1965.^[4] The first station, which had remained open for goods traffic, also closed on 17 May 1965.^[4]

The Monmouthshire Railway line to Blaenavon ran to the west of the town.^[3] The section between Pontypool and Blaenavon closed to passengers 30 April 1962, the mineral branches followed on 7 April 1969 and the branch to Talywain on 3 May 1980.^[5] The section from Pontypool as far as Oakfield Siding near Cwmbran saw coal traffic until 1980.^[6]

New station

The station in May 1990.

The present station was opened by British Rail on 12 May 1986.^[1][2] It is situated around 300 yards (270 m) to the south of Lower Pontnewydd railway station which closed to passengers on 9 June 1958 and to goods on 25 January 1965.^[7][8][9]

Facilities

The new main building, consisting of a small cafe and ticket hall (2019)

Refurbished facilities at the station were officially opened by Rhodri Morgan AM on Friday 14 March 2008. This included a larger car park, a new ticket hall, modern sheltered seating areas and new live departure boards like those seen at Newport. The booking office is open six days per week; there is also a self-service ticket machine on offer for use or to collect advance purchase tickets. Automatic announcements and timetable poster boards offer train running information in addition to the CIS displays mentioned. Level access is on offer to each side, though for the southbound platform, this requires a long detour via public roads (the footbridge linking the platforms has steps).^[10]

The old station footbridge being removed (2024)

Construction work is currently underway to install an accessible footbridge with lifts by the end of Summer 2024 as part of and with funding from the Department for Transport's "Access for All" programme.^[11] On 1 December 2024, the old footbridge was removed and the new fully accessible footbridge was opened.

In addition to this, Torfaen County Borough Council have funded a limited Number 4 bus that serves the town centre and suburbs of Cwmbran, which is currently operated by Stagecoach in South Wales.

Service

Services that stop at Cwmbran in both directions are all operated by Transport for Wales and include the hourly service between Manchester Piccadilly, Cardiff Central and West Wales and the two hourly service between Holyhead and Cardiff Central.^[12] Most Sunday services only run on the former route (there are only two services each way to/from Holyhead).

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Abergavenny		Transport for Wales Welsh Marches Line		Newport
Pontypool and New Inn