 The remains of the viaduct carrying the railway over the River Wye in Monmouth; the Ross and Monmouth line's viaduct is beyond | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Chepstow |
| Locale | Gloucestershire, England–Monmouthshire, Wales |
| Dates of operation | 1876–1964 (southern section remained open to c. 1990) |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Length | 15 miles (24 km) |
The Wye Valley Railway was a standard gauge railway that ran for nearly 15 miles (24 km) along the Lower Wye Valley between the towns of Chepstow and Monmouth, crossing several times between Wales and England. Opened on 1 November 1876, it was leased to, and worked by, the Great Western Railway (GWR), before being fully absorbed by the GWR in 1905.
The line was built with the hope of becoming part of a through trunk route between Bristol and the industrial Midlands, a development which never took place. Although tourism provided some new passenger business in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods, the line's income was always weak.
After nationalisation, British Railways reviewed its viability and withdrew the passenger service on 5 January 1959. A limited goods and mineral service continued until 1964, after which residual traffic continued on the southern end of the route to Tintern Quarry, until 1981, and Dayhouse Quarry, near Tidenham, until 1990.