Varteg railway station

Varteg railway station was a railway station which served the village of Varteg, in the county of Monmouthshire, on the Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway. Built by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) as an expansion to meet the Great Western Railway (GWR) at Abersychan and Talywain. It was sometimes referred to on old Ordnance Survey and British Railway Clearing House (RCH) as 'Varteg Halt', despite it having an extensive station building.

History

Opened by the Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway, it became part of the London and North Western Railway which through the connection with the Heads of the Valleys Line was able to take coal directly to destinations in the Midlands. The station closed in 1941 in the same year when passenger trains operated by the Great Western Railway ceased due to the exigencies of the Second World War.

The site today

Although the line through the station site can still be traced on an OS map nearby Shop Road Bridge there is little left to show as the disused station building was later demolished by British Rail. The site today is occupied by the National Cycle Route 46. Reopening the station to the public has become one of the long-term ambitions of the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway.

References

• R.V.J.Butt, (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd.  ISBN 1 85260 508 1

• A. Jowett, (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas. Atlantic Publishing.  ISBN 0 906899 99 0

External links

• Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway's overall development plan

• Remains of the station (December 1989) [1]
• Remains of the station (March 2009) [2]