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Railwatch 076 - July 1998

South Wales

By Peter Clark

Ebbw Vale After a very long wait, we were heartened to hear in early March that European funding of £80,000 has been granted for a feasibility study into reopening the 20-mile line between Newport and Ebbw Vale. We may yet see trains running by the millennium!

Pontrilas station Funding for a feasibility study into reopening this station has now been secured. By the time this goes to press, consultants will have been appointed and are due to report in mid July.

Well done Guy Congratulations to Guy Hardy (until recently, secretary of RDS South Wales) on being appointed as a member of the Wales Rail Users Consultative Committee. His knowledge and experience of, and belief in public transport will be of great value to that body.

A-ZThe branch was kept busy after publication of the new edition of this book, responding to television, radio and press approaches, looking for a Welsh dimension. It gave us further opportunity to publicise line and station reopenings which we advocate in South Wales.

National Eisteddfod This major Welsh festival is being held this year at Pencoed, near Bridgend and offers a perfect opportunity for rail to play a significant role in transporting thousands of visitors. To try to make sure this potential becomes reality, we have been in contact with the Eisteddfod organisers and Bridgend Council, which is co-ordinating the transport arrangements. The result is awaited, but based on what we have been told, we feel there are grounds for optimism.

Welsh Assembly Following the announcement at the end of April that the Welsh Assembly is to be housed in Cardiff Bay, we have called for public transport to the area to be improved. The alternative site close to Cardiff Central station would have been easy to access by rail, but was turned down in favour of the site in the bay, a mile from the city centre. Existing public transport links to the area are poor. The local authority wants to close the branch line that runs nearby. We have spoken in the press of the new Assembly as an opportunity to improve public transport in the area, itself one of the fastest developing areas in Wales. We have said that either the existing branch line should be upgraded, or a modern light rail system should be quickly implemented.

Note: contact details (postal and email addresses, along with telephone numbers) in old editions of Railwatch out of date. Click CONTACT US for latest contact details.


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