| Newport | |||
| Casnewydd | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| Location | |||
| Place | Newport city centre | ||
| Local authority | Newport | ||
| Operations | |||
| Station code | NWP | ||
| Managed by | Arriva Trains Wales | ||
| Platforms in use | 4 | ||
| Live departures and station information from National Rail | |||
| Annual Passenger Usage | |||
| 2004/05 * | 1.828 million | ||
| 2005/06 * | 1.906 million | ||
| History | |||
| Key dates | Opened 1850 | ||
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |||
| * Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Newport from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. | |||
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Newport railway station (Welsh: Casnewydd) is the 3rd busiest railway station in Wales (after Cardiff Central and Cardiff Queen Street), situated in the heart of the city of Newport. It is part of the British railway system owned by Network Rail and is operated by Arriva Trains Wales. The main station entrance is located on Queensway, and a small section of road known as Station Approach links this to the High Street. The station was originally opened in 1850 by the South Wales Railway Company and is still sometimes known by its original name Newport High Street railway station, although the suffix High Street was dropped sometime in the early twentieth century, and replaced with (Gwent) (on signs, most documents, and internal documentation) or (South Wales) (national rail enquiries) to avoid confusion with other stations of the same name.
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Services
Newport is currently served by three train operating companies: Arriva Trains Wales, CrossCountry and First Great Western. Arriva Trains Wales operate hourly services between Cardiff Central and Manchester Piccadilly, with some trains extended beyond Cardiff to Swansea, Carmarthen or Milford Haven. There are also hourly services from Cardiff to North Wales. In addition, there are hourly local services between Maesteg and Gloucester, via Cardiff and Newport. CrossCountry operate an hourly service from Cardiff to Nottingham, via Birmingham New Street. They also run a daily service to Newcastle, via Bristol and Birmingham. First Great Western operate a half-hourly express service to London Paddington and Swansea, and also services to Bristol Temple Meads, which often continue to Portsmouth Harbour, Weymouth, Westbury, Brighton, Frome or Taunton.
Facilities
The current station layout consists of four through-platforms. Originally, there were bay platforms either side of the main station building, but these were removed in the 1970s. Platform 1 is generally only used during peak hours and usually for trains heading towards Cardiff. Platform 2 is the usual stopping point for all westbound services towards Cardiff including First Great Western services to Swansea. Platform 3 is the stopping point for eastbound trains to London Paddington and regional trains to the South Coast, the Bristol area, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire,Manchester, North Wales and the Midlands of England. Platform 4 is the stopping point for Arriva Trains Wales services to Gloucester and First Great Western services to Weymouth and will also be used by trains to Ebbw Vale following the re-opening of the Ebbw Valley Line. A British Transport Police station and a branch of WH Smith are situated on platform 1. The waiting room and customer toilets are situated between platforms 2 and 3, as is the Upper Crust café. Also, between platforms 2 and 3 is a customer help desk. The booking hall is situated between the main entrance and platform 1. There are three main windows for tickets for immediate travel and a travel centre which handles enquiries, complaints and issues tickets for future travel. In the booking hall there is also a small buffet, a bank of telephones, automatic ticket machines and a photo booth. Wheelchair access between platforms is provided by a subway, accessed by a lift from the platforms. Also, a ramp from platforms 2 and 3 leads into a subway that links Mill Street to the city centre. There is a short-stay car park and taxi rank situated to the front and a long-stay car park to the rear which is accessible via a footbridge from all platforms. Since October 2005, automatic ticket barriers have been installed. In November 2006, Arriva installed alarms on the fire doors in the subway, which was commonly used as a method of avoiding ticket purchasing. As these doors lead straight into a public subway under the station, the ticketless customer would avoid the automatic ticket barriers. At the same time, the ticket barriers are being used more often, before used during peak periods and match days, now manned throughout the day until late in the evening.
Future developments
The Welsh Assembly Government and Network Rail have agreed a £20 million makeover for the station that will provide a new concourse, a second pedestrian bridge over the tracks and a user-friendly bus-rail interchange at the station. The plans also include an extended platform 4 capable of accommodating up to twelve-carriage intercity trains and a new multi-storey car park for long-stay travellers. The first phase, platform 4 extension, was completed on July 2 2007.[1] Unfortunately, the redevelopment of Platform 4 did not allow for disabled access. This will be addressed in a further development of the station before the 2010 Ryder Cup, where a lift will be installed to Platform 4, together with a second passenger bridge for the whole station, a new bus station developed and the multi-storey car park completed. In the meantime, station staff are using a locally contracted taxi firm at £3 a passenger to move disabled and elderly passengers the half mile from one side of the station to the other, in a complimentary service provision.[2]
See also
References
- ^ http://www.newportunlimited.co.uk/10481.file.dld
- ^ Taxis used between rail platforms BBC News - 17 August 2007
External links
- Monmouthshire Railway Society
- Newport City News
- Train times and station information for Newport railway station from National Rail
- Street map and aerial photo of Newport railway station from Multimap.com
