Pontrilas railway station

Pontrilas railway station was a former station which served the Herefordshire villages of Pontrilas and Ewyas Harold, and was a little distance from Grosmont, in Monmouthshire, Wales. It was located on the Welsh Marches Line between Hereford and Abergavenny. The Golden Valley Railway[3] ran from here through to the Midland Railway line at Hay on Wye. The station is now a private house offering B&B and a self-catering cottage.[4]

Pontrilas
A busy scene at Pontrilas Station in 1907
Location
Place	Pontrilas
Area	Herefordshire
Coordinates	51.9435°N 2.8765°W / 51.9435; -2.8765
Grid reference	SO397276
Operations
Original company	Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Platforms	3
History
1854	Opened[1]
9 June 1958	Closed[2]
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

Postcard from 1927 at the busy junction station

Arriva Trains Wales service passing the disused station

The station closed in 1958 (see Pontrilas).

The remaining railway infrastructure includes the operating signal box. The sidings are still in use for infrastructure work and, less often, as a freight loop. It is at the end of the long climb from Abergavenny; freight and steam specials on this route provide a noisy spectacle coming through the station site. In the southbound direction the long section between Pontrilas and Abergavenny frequently results in trains being held here awaiting a clear run into Abergavenny.

The branch line junction and bridge, crossing the A465 onto the Golden Valley Railway, has been demolished in road widening - only the abutment to the bridge remains.

During the 1990s rail freight operated to this set of sidings, delivering wood products to Pontrilas Sawmill. Plans were even mooted to open a short siding into it; this would have had to cross the A465 or replace the missing Golden Valley bridge so was unlikely in hindsight. Freight traffic ended when British Rail closed the Freightliner service.

There are a large number of other sized trains still to be seen in Pontrilas, as a large online model railway retailer - OnTracks.co.uk – is based in the business unit below the signal box.

There are plans to open a new station for the village.[5]

References

1. "Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway". Herefordshire Council. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
2. Steele, Bob. "The rise and fall of the Golden Valley Railway". Ewyas Lacy Study Group. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
3. The Golden Valley Railway
4. B&B and self catering cottage

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2005). Hereford to Newport. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 37-44. ISBN 9781904474548. OCLC 318952259.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2007). Branch Lines around Hay-on-Wye. Middleton Press. figs. 53-56. ISBN 9781904474920. OCLC 288983659.

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Abbeydore Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Golden Valley Railway		Terminus
St Devereux Line open, station closed		Great Western Railway Welsh Marches line		Pandy Line open, station closed