Severn Tunnel Junction railway station

Severn Tunnel Junction National Rail
Welsh: Cyffordd Twnnel Hafren

Severn Tunnel Junction station before the restoration of a fourth line and platform in January 2010
Location
Place Rogiet
Local authority Monmouthshire
Coordinates 51°35′03″N 2°46′38″W / 51.5842°N 2.7771°W / 51.5842; -2.7771Coordinates: 51°35′03″N 2°46′38″W / 51.5842°N 2.7771°W / 51.5842; -2.7771
Grid reference ST462875
Operations
Station code STJ
Managed by Arriva Trains Wales
Number of platforms 4
DfT category E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05  0.118 million
2005/06 Increase 0.120 million
2006/07 Increase 0.135 million
2007/08 Increase 0.140 million
2008/09 Increase 0.149 million
2009/10 Increase 0.170 million
2010/11 Increase 0.177 million
2011/12 Increase 0.189 million
2012/13 Increase 0.206 million
2013/14 Increase 0.215 million
2014/15 Increase 0.239 million
History
Original company Great Western Railway
Pre-grouping Great Western Railway
Post-grouping Great Western Railway
1 December 1886 Station opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Severn Tunnel Junction from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Severn Tunnel Junction railway station (Welsh: Cyffordd Twnnel Hafren) is a minor railway station on the western side of the Severn Tunnel serving the area of Rogiet, Monmouthshire, Wales. It lies at the junction of the South Wales Main Line from London and the Gloucester to Newport Line.

The next station to the west is Newport. The next stations to the east are at Pilning in South Gloucestershire (through the tunnel) and nearby Caldicot (on the Gloucester line).

History

Severn Tunnel Junction Up (Eastbound) main line in 1961
Severn Tunnel Junction Locomotive Depot in 1951

The South Wales Main Line was opened through the village of Rogiet in 1850. At this time Rogiet was little more than a church and a farm, and the expansion of the village did not begin until after the opening of the station in 1886.

During construction of the Severn Tunnel, several maps were printed that labelled the new junction as Rogiet Station,[1][2][3] although the station was always named Severn Tunnel Junction from the time that it opened to the public on 1 December 1886.[1][4][5]

The junction system consisted of a five-platform station (four through, and an up facing bay), a railway depot, and a major goods yard. The purpose of the yard was to sort coal coming from the South Wales Coalfield to the London and the Midlands; while in reverse, it sorted goods from the rest of the UK to South Wales.

The goods yard was bombed during World War II, due to the large goods yard facility.[6] From 1924 to 1966 Severn Tunnel Junction was the terminus of a car transport service through the tunnel to Pilning. The service was made redundant by the opening of the Severn Bridge in 1966.[7]

As a result of reduced coal and industrial production from the mid-1980s from South Wales, and increases in fixed goods formations, Severn Tunnel Junction goods yard and locomotive depot were closed from 12 October 1987 with residual marshalling moving to Newport railway station.[8] After the tracks were lifted in the early 1990s, part of the site of the former goods yard was used for the toll booths for the Second Severn Crossing.

From 2010, Network Rail remodelled the track layout, which in conjunction with resignalling work was due to be completed by 2014.[9] The plan provided improved operational flexibility, reduce maintenance costs and re-instated a fourth through platform. SEWTA invested in improved passenger facilities at the station. The new track layout came into operation on 4 January 2010, with the South Wales Main Line now using platforms 3 and 4, and Gloucester to Newport Line platforms 1 and 2. There are no rail connections between the platforms east of the station as high-speed 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) crossovers have been provided to the west.

Services

The station is served by two main routes - ATW's Cheltenham Spa to Cardiff Central & Maesteg via Chepstow local service and Great Western's Cardiff to Taunton via Bristol line. Both run hourly on weekdays & Saturdays, albeit with some two-hour gaps on the Chepstow line. In the weekday peaks, certain Cardiff to Portsmouth Harbour also stop here, whilst there is a daily train to Fishguard Harbour. CrossCountry also provides very limited services to/from Manchester Piccadilly via Bristol and to Nottingham via Gloucester & Birmingham New Street.

On Sundays, the Bristol to Cardiff service is once again hourly (and runs to/from Portsmouth) whist the Cheltenham service is two-hourly.[10]

Severn Tunnel Junction

Legend
Gloucester to Newport Line
to Chepstow
to Sudbrook tunnel pumps
to Caerwent Training Area

South Wales Main Line
to Bristol via Severn Tunnel
Caldicot

Severn Tunnel Junction
South Wales Main Line
to Newport
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Newport   Arriva Trains Wales
Maesteg / Cardiff Central - Cheltenham Spa
   Caldicot
Newport   CrossCountry
Cardiff Central - Birmingham New Street / Nottingham
(Mondays to Saturdays only, limited service)		   Caldicot
  CrossCountry
Cardiff Central - Manchester Piccadilly via Bristol Temple Meads
(Mondays to Saturdays only, limited service)		   Patchway
Newport   Great Western Railway
Cardiff Central - Taunton
(Mondays to Saturdays only)		   Patchway
or
Pilning
  Great Western Railway
Cardiff Central - Portsmouth Harbour / Brighton
(Mondays to Saturdays, morning and evening peak only and Sundays)		   Filton Abbey Wood

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Walker, Thomas A. (2004) [1888]. The Severn Tunnel. Stroud: Nonsuch Publishing. pp. 16–17 (railway map). ISBN 1-84588-000-5.
  2. ↑ The Severn Tunnel
  3. ↑ The Severn Tunnel
  4. ↑ Walker 1888, p. 155
  5. ↑ Hodge, John (2002). The South Wales Main Line. Part Two: Severn Tunnel to Newport. Wild Swan Publications. p. 35. ISBN 1-874103-76-3. With the opening of the [South Wales] line in June 1850, intermediate stations to the west of Portskewett [as far as the Usk at Newport] were initially provided at Magor and Llanwern.
  6. ↑ BBC - WW2 People's War - Dennis Harper's Story
  7. ↑ Nock, O.S. (1967) History of the Great Western Railway Volume III p.42
  8. ↑ Railways in Gloucester and Churchdown - after 1845
  9. ↑ Network Rail - Wales Route Utilisation Strategy Draft for Consultation
  10. ↑ Table 57 & 132 National Rail timetable, May 2016
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