Pontrilas station (not) reopening

[lachlan]

Hadn’t heard of this one before so don’t know what the history is here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-66961978

Plans to reopen a railway station in Herefordshire that closed more than 60 years ago have been shelved.
Pontrilas station, on the Hereford to Abergavenny line, was shut in 1958 after being used for almost a century.
Plans to reopen it had been backed by a previous Herefordshire Council administration and Conservative MP Jesse Norman.
Leaders on the local authority, however, said it would represent "poor value for money".
Conservative councillor Philip Price said the project would create an additional financial risk for the authority.
"I would be unwilling to saddle the council with the additional financial risk that building a new station would present at this time," he said.
"It is likely that the scheme will not create additional capacity but will simply transfer journeys from other stations or the bus network."
Mr Norman has been approached for comment.

 

[DelW]

That sounds more like an unfunded aspiration than an actual plan.

From Google maps, Pontrilas is a smallish village in a sparsely populated rural area. Being on a main road, though, it does have a direct bus every two hours to Hereford and to Abergavenny, giving connections onto the Marches line. As such, it doesn't seem to be a high priority case for any available funds.

Theres also the effect on train services. Stopping every Marches line train there wouldn't be justified, but if you stop only a selection then that makes clockface timetables more difficult. So I can't imagine the train operators being keen on the station reopening either.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I didn't realise this before but the Marches line crosses the meandering Wales/England border 5 times south of Pontrilas, which is just in Herefordshire less than half a mile from the border.
So a Cardiff-Holyhead train will cross the border 8 times - the other 3 locations being at Chirk, Rossett and Saltney (Chester).

 

[lachlan]

That sounds more like an unfunded aspiration than an actual plan.

From Google maps, Pontrilas is a smallish village in a sparsely populated rural area. Being on a main road, though, it does have a direct bus every two hours to Hereford and to Abergavenny, giving connections onto the Marches line. As such, it doesn't seem to be a high priority case for any available funds.

Theres also the effect on train services. Stopping every Marches line train there wouldn't be justified, but if you stop only a selection then that makes clockface timetables more difficult. So I can't imagine the train operators being keen on the station reopening either.

There was an application to the Reopening your Station (or whatever it was called) fund in 2020 but this was rejected.

I also looked at Google Maps and on seeing the village was unsurprised the bid failed. Maybe if there were a load of new houses planned the station would be more viable in the future?

 

[Techniquest]

I'm not surprised this station isn't going ahead. It would be handy for the area, granted, as it's not just Pontrilas itself but the nearby villages not far from it that would benefit. Sadly though, I just don't see enough benefit to opening it myself. Absolutely a nice-to-have, but there are more deserving projects out there.

 

[Bald Rick]

Yes this was in the Restoring your Railway list - absolutely bonkers and quite rightly rejected. Business case was appalling.

 

[nanstallon]

Pontrilas used to be the junction for the Golden Valley line that went through such delightful villages as Dorstone, Peterchuch and Vowchurch on its bucolic way to Hay-on-Wye. Gorgeous countryside, but a pre-WW2 closure at least to passengers. Would Pontrilas serve as a railhead for a bus to Hay? I believe that they are served by a Hereford to Brecon bus service, so it is hard to see much point in reopening Pontrilas station.

 

[Cowley]

Thread reopened for @lachlan to update..

 

[70014IronDuke]

I'm not surprised this station isn't going ahead. It would be handy for the area, granted, as it's not just Pontrilas itself but the nearby villages not far from it that would benefit. Sadly though, I just don't see enough benefit to opening it myself. Absolutely a nice-to-have, but there are more deserving projects out there.

A bit of a Reston-in-the-Marches?

 

[lachlan]

Update on plans for Herefordshire's Pontrilas station​

By Gavin McEwan28th June
More details have emerged on plans to reopen a rural Herefordshire railway station.

Taking forward the long-mooted plan for Pontrilas station, to be renamed Golden Valley Parkway, is part of Herefordshire Council’s plan for the year ahead.

In a response to public questions on this, cabinet member transport and infrastructure Coun Phillip Price and director of economy and environment Ross Cook said the council will spend £50,000 developing a “strategic outline business case” for the new station in partnership with rail industry figures.

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“We are currently developing a project brief for this work and, once the individual members of the task force are confirmed, we expect consultants to be appointed and the study to start,” they said.

(Image: Flickr / tomline43, CC BY 2.0 licence)

And they added: “In recognition of the wider benefits to the community of a new station, the scheme will be known as the Golden Valley Parkway.”

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But they pointed out that the plans are still “at a very early stage” and with new station plans typically taking several years, it is currently “not possible to commit to a timescale for station opening”.

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Coun Price had previously said he thought the idea “offered poor value for money” and would “not create additional capacity”.

But it has the backing of the area’s erstwhile Conservative MP and former transport minister Jesse Norman.

The station closed in 1958, but the line remains in use, while the station building has been converted into a bed and breakfast and self-catering cottage.

The scheme, now called "Golden Valley Parkway" will have £50,000 spent on it, despite the council previously saying it could not accept the financial risk of building a new station.

 

[The Planner]

The scheme, now called "Golden Valley Parkway" will have £50,000 spent on it, despite the council previously saying it could not accept the financial risk of building a new station.

Renaming it and spending some cash on a SOBC isn't going to make it better.

 

[Envoy]

If Pontrilas was re-built and opened, they would need to send stopping trains at least as far north as Hereford as surely the long distance express services could not have this additional stop? I think that they should get a new station at Caerleon allied with a stopping service as far north as Abergavenny first.

As far as Pontrilas and all the other villages in the area are concerned, a quick fix would be to provide them with a free car park on the A465 by Abergavenny station as the lay-byes that these people use are already pretty full. They also need a proper access to Abergavenny station from the A465 rather than the path through a hole in the hedge that they have at present. (No point in these people driving further around to the main entrance to Abergavenny station as that does not have enough parking to cope with people driving down from Crickhowell / Brecon etc.).

Don't believe what I say? Take a look at Google Maps and pull out the yellow man and plonk him on the A465 by Abergavenny station for street view.

PS. They could have a bus stop on the A465 to serve Abergavenny station.

 

[Christian Schm]

There is a NR study ongoing about Marches Line services. That also looks at frequency improvements.

I believe the business case would stem from speeding up Cardiff-Manchester services, so that south of Shrewsbury they stop Hereford and Newport only. But that would require 3tph (so that eg AGV and LUD won’t a reduction in service level).

At which point the cost of stopping 1tph at Pontrilas would be rather small?

Any new station would serve quite a large hinterland - sparsely populated though quite touristy. There would also be changes to the bus network. The Abergavenny - Hereford service connects to a local service into Ewyas Harold at Pontrilas, and Monmouthshire did recently ask for costs for a Monmouth-Grosmont(-Pontrilas) service

 

[AlastairFraser]

There is a NR study ongoing about Marches Line services. That also looks at frequency improvements.

I believe the business case would stem from speeding up Cardiff-Manchester services, so that south of Shrewsbury they stop Hereford and Newport only. But that would require 3tph (so that eg AGV and LUD won’t a reduction in service level).

At which point the cost of stopping 1tph at Pontrilas would be rather small?

Any new station would serve quite a large hinterland - sparsely populated though quite touristy. There would also be changes to the bus network. The Abergavenny - Hereford service connects to a local service into Ewyas Harold at Pontrilas, and Monmouthshire did recently ask for costs for a Monmouth-Grosmont(-Pontrilas) service

A development of around 1k houses at least, in conjunction with traffic from the Monmouth/Wye Valley area heading north towards Manchester/North Wales could be a reasonable business case for the station and partly justify the service, maybe.

 

[AndrewE]

Shropshire, admittedly, but seeing as Church Stretton only has stops 2-hourly in the Manchester service p.m. (even though is a significant day-trip destination for walking) I would hope that any new timetable would put this right.

 

[Bald Rick]

A development of around 1k houses at least, in conjunction with traffic from the Monmouth/Wye Valley area heading north towards Manchester/North Wales could be a reasonable business case for the station and partly justify the service, maybe.

I bet there’s not 1000 houses within 10km of the place, the chances of 1000 houses being built there must be very remote (in every sense)

 

[AlastairFraser]

I bet there’s not 1000 houses within 10km of the place, the chances of 1000 houses being built there must be very remote (in every sense)

There's around 3.5k people within 10km (Ewyas Harold + Pontrilas proper + Rowlestone + Grosmont + Longtown + Kilpeck + Abbey Dore + Kingstone), so probably closeish to 1000 houses.

It's an attractive location to build a sizeable estate of nice semi detached housing - close to lots of historical sites, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park etc., and it would be within an hour of both Cardiff and Newport on the train for commuters.

 

[Envoy]

Ideally, The Marches Line should be more like the Bristol to Southampton route. Freshford for example, has one train stopping per hour and these are not the fast services on the Cardiff to Portsmouth run.

If they do build more houses in Pontrilas, then I would think something a village centre by a proposed station should be considered as a priority. The new build stone houses in Llanvihangel Crucorney are so attractive in this countryside setting. Bog standard semis would look awful. Anyway, I digress here off topic.

 

[Topological]

IF more houses were built, surely they would be plugged in to Hereford? (This is off-topic, but also does tie to the question of potential extra stations)

Developers like to find sites with planning permission, but the properties need to be saleable. A station close to Hereford would therefore seem most likely if you were starting from scratch and assuming development will pay.

There is also a lovely new car park at Pontypool and New Inn (or at least there will be one day).

Abergavenny to Hereford is a long run without a station, but that does not mean old stations need bringing back.

 

[paul1609]

There's around 3.5k people within 10km (Ewyas Harold + Pontrilas proper + Rowlestone + Grosmont + Longtown + Kilpeck + Abbey Dore + Kingstone), so probably closeish to 1000 houses.

It's an attractive location to build a sizeable estate of nice semi detached housing - close to lots of historical sites, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park etc., and it would be within an hour of both Cardiff and Newport on the train for commuters.

Im amazed that the number of remote locations that come up in this forum that I passed through on my Lands End to John O Groats Walk. In this case I was on the Offas Dyke castles alternative which passes through Monmouth Cap just to the south of the proposed station. My recollection is that all the villages around here (I stayed overnight in Longtown) are a mix of agricultural and retirement, I imagine the potential for a park and ride station here is next to nothing unless the trains are going to attach sheep carriers for Hereford Market, with net zero in mind should we really be encouraging middle class executives to commute an hour in to the countryside to live?

 

[70014IronDuke]

If Pontrilas was re-built and opened, they would need to send stopping trains at least as far north as Hereford as surely the long distance express services could not have this additional stop? I think that they should get a new station at Caerleon allied with a stopping service as far north as Abergavenny first.

Certainly if I lived in Caerleon and Pontrilas was re-opened but not Caerleon I'd be hopping mad. The case for Caerleon must surely be far, far stronger than Pontrilas. In fact, I thought at one point it was going ahead, but maybe I've got that wrong.

 

[AlastairFraser]

IF more houses were built, surely they would be plugged in to Hereford? (This is off-topic, but also does tie to the question of potential extra stations)

Developers like to find sites with planning permission, but the properties need to be saleable. A station close to Hereford would therefore seem most likely if you were starting from scratch and assuming development will pay.

There is also a lovely new car park at Pontypool and New Inn (or at least there will be one day).

Abergavenny to Hereford is a long run without a station, but that does not mean old stations need bringing back.

Hereford is slightly too far to be within an hour of all South East Wales major traffic objectives, but there has been a lot of housebuilding there already orientated towards the south end of the West Midlands conurbation.

Pontypool and New Inn is a 35 min drive from e.g. the relatively large village of Ewyas Harold, next to Pontrilas. Coupled with the 32 mins into Cardiff, that's over an hour and a lot of extra petrol burnt + pollution. I expect the new car park there will fill up with commuters from the sizeable local population in Pontypool proper and the wider Lwyd Valley.

Im amazed that the number of remote locations that come up in this forum that I passed through on my Lands End to John O Groats Walk. In this case I was on the Offas Dyke castles alternative which passes through Monmouth Cap just to the south of the proposed station. My recollection is that all the villages around here (I stayed overnight in Longtown) are a mix of agricultural and retirement, I imagine the potential for a park and ride station here is next to nothing unless the trains are going to attach sheep carriers for Hereford Market, with net zero in mind should we really be encouraging middle class executives to commute an hour in to the countryside to live?

While a lot of them are primarily agricultural as you mentioned, there is still demand from the local population for travel into places like Abergavenny and Hereford by public transport, as the aforementioned parking situation in those places is difficult (I stayed for a week in Grosmont one Easter and witnessed many frequent trips into and out of regional centres for lots of different purposes).

Interesting that you refer to net zero here - if we can get this demographic onto the train for at least part of the journey, that is a win for our progress towards net zero, because a portion of these executives will choose to live in the countryside, whatever the circumstances.

 

[Meole]

This is a main line for N Wales and Manchester to Cardiff, if anything small locations such as Church Stretton should be taken out rather than adding wayside stops.

 

[AlastairFraser]

This is a main line for N Wales and Manchester to Cardiff, if anything small locations such as Church Stretton should be taken out rather than adding wayside stops.

Hence the station being built only if a stopper were introduced, as discussed above.