A RAILWAY STATION FOR CAERLEON

I like many people in Newport, welcomed the commitment, a few years ago now, to build new railway stations at Tredegar Park, Somerton, Llanwern, and Magor as part of the South Wales Metro. We needed ground broken sooner rather than later to bring the new railway stations into being, to provide alternative means of getting around our city and elsewhere. 

The new stations were and are an absolute necessity, but I have serious concerns that no railway station to serve Caerleon / Ponthir was included in the Burns Commission recommendations, as this would a real asset to both communities.  We need far greater investment in public transport, with a much better integration and better coordination of rail and bus networks and integrated tickets across all services – with the emphasis on sooner rather than later.

The news that ground will be broken in 2026 with completion by 2030 is to be welcomed but it has taken far too long and with Labour in Wales government managed projects after the initial blast-off publicity there is usually a distinct lag before there is any actual action let alone the actual completion of the project.  

 

The absence of a station for Caerleon may well show an alarming lack of understanding of local transport issues, or a too literal linear focus on the problems of the M4 or it could be simply a glaring oversight. In this case it would ensure that the residents of Caerleon / Ponthir have little choice but to drive to Newport, Cwmbran and beyond even to reach another railway station. 

The lack of a proposed railway station to serve the communities of Caerleon / Ponthir needs to be revisited as a matter of serious urgency if the Labour in Wales government are to show that they are serious about providing decent integrated public transport for all parts of Newport and cutting congestion on the M4 and around our city.

 

Plaid Cymru and the SE Wales Metro

 

Plaid Cymru in Newport and Monmouthshire have long called for the existing railway stations to be significantly upgraded as part of the process of creating a functioning South Wales metro.  Plaid broadly welcomed the report of the South East Wales Transport Commission which has recommend ways to reduce congestion on the M4 motorway without building a new relief road around Newport.  Plaid has called greater investment in public transport, with a much better integration and coordination of rail and bus networks and integrated tickets across all services – with the emphasis that it is needed sooner rather than later.