Risca and Pontymister railway station

Risca and Pontymister railway station (Welsh: Rhisga a Phont-y-meistr) is a station on the Ebbw Valley Railway in south-east Wales. It serves the village of Pontymister and the town of Risca. It is located roughly ½ mile south of the original Risca railway station.

Risca and Pontymister
Welsh: Rhisga a Phont-y-meistr
Location
Place	Pontymister
Local authority	Caerphilly
Grid reference	ST245902
Operations
Station code	RCA
Managed by	Transport for Wales
Owned by	Network Rail
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15	0.108 million
2015/16	0.101 million
2016/17	0.111 million
2017/18	99,326
2018/19	92,144
History
23 December 1850	Opened as Risca
30 April 1962	Closed
6 February 2008	Reopened as Risca and Pontymister
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Risca and Pontymister from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

The station is located near Ty Isaf School and Mill Street on a site of former railway sidings. The station has two platforms and a park and ride car park. Vehicular access to the station is off Maryland Road, with passenger access off Mill Street.

The station opened on 6 February 2008 when services between Cardiff Central and Ebbw Vale Parkway railway station commenced. Plans include an hourly service to Newport.

History

Main article: Risca railway station

The first steam locomotive passenger train ran on the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company Western Valley line on Monday 23 December 1850, with service running twice in each direction (to Ebbw Vale and to Newport) each weekday.[1]

The MRCC had been running the canals and horse-drawn carriages on their tram-roads which went through Risca from 1795.[2]

Passenger services on the original line ended in 1962.[3]

References

1. "Advertising". Charles Hough. Monmouthshire Merlin. 4 January 1851. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
2. Skillern, WJ (July 1960). "The Railways of Newport". The Railway Magazine. 107 (711).
3. Vay Le, Julian; Benedict Le Vay (1 December 2014). Britain from the Rails: Including the nation's best-kept-secret railways. Bradt Travel Guides. pp. 271–. ISBN 978-1-84162-919-3.

External links

• Train times and station information for Risca and Pontymister railway station from National Rail
• Planning Approval Granted for New Railway Station
• Archive of Ebbw Valley Railway Scheme website (Blaenau Gwent council, 2008)
• grid reference ST244902

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Crosskeys		Transport for Wales Cardiff Central - Ebbw Vale Town		Rogerstone