 | This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: It needs more explanation of the South Wales Metro and corresponding changes to the trains and services on the line.. (April 2022) |
| Ebbw Valley Railway Rheilffordd Cwm Ebwy | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Overview | |||
| Status | Operational | ||
| Owner | Network Rail | ||
| Locale | Ebbw Valley, South Wales | ||
| Termini | |||
| Stations | 8 | ||
| Service | |||
| Type | Heavy rail | ||
| System | National Rail | ||
| Operator(s) | Transport for Wales Rail | ||
| Rolling stock | Class 197 DMUs[1] | ||
| History | |||
| Opened | 21 December 1850 | ||
| Closed | 30 April 1962 | ||
| Reopened | 6 February 2008 | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 19 miles 57 chains (31.7 km)[2][3] | ||
| Number of tracks | Single track (Double track from Risca and Pontymister to Aberbeeg)[4] | ||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | ||
| Highest elevation | 820 feet (250 m) | ||
| |||
The Ebbw Valley Railway (Welsh: 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 hourly service each way between Ebbw Vale Town and Newport.
The line was opened by the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company and the Great Western Railway (GWR) operated a passenger service from the 1850s between Newport and Ebbw Vale. The line became part of British Railways Western Region in 1948, following the nationalisation of the railways. Passenger services were withdrawn in 1962. However, the route continued to be used to carry freight to and from the Corus steelworks in Ebbw Vale, until its closure in 2002. Proposals to re-open the existing freight railway line to passenger services were first mooted in 1998. The Welsh Assembly Government announced their commitment to the project in 2002, as part of a package of measures to help the former steel communities.
Passenger services were restored to the line in February 2008, after a gap of 46 years, using Class 150 diesel multiple units. Predominantly single track north of Newport, but with an extended 10 mile passing loop between Risca and Aberbeeg,[4] the Ebbw Valley Railway runs 19 miles (31 km) along the Ebbw River valley from Ebbw Vale, before joining the South Wales Main Line at a triangular group of junctions in Newport – the line splitting at Park Junction with the eastbound section joining at Gaer Junction and the westbound section joining at Ebbw Junction. The line's stations and services are managed by Transport for Wales Rail.
- ^ Pritchard, Robert (June 2024). "Ebbw Vale launch for 197s". Rolling Stock News. Today's Railways UK. No. 268. p. 61.
- ^ Yonge, John; Padgett, David (August 2010) [1989]. Bridge, Mike (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 3: Western (5th ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. maps 21A & 28A. ISBN 978-0-9549866-6-7.
- ^ "EBW mileages". Railway Codes. 7 August 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
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