Twelve new railway stations may be built in Wales and one of them could be on Newport Road/ Rover Way.
According to this Wales Online article, out of the twelve, three of the proposed new stations are in Cardiff: as well as Splott/Tremorfa/Pengam the other two are proposed for St Mellons and Ely Mill/Victoria Park.
Viability of the proposed new sites will be under examination along with the other 9 proposed sites, including new sites in Swansea and Wrexham. Again, according to the article, the twelve remaining sites in the frame have been selected out of a long-list of 46 and the individual proposals will now be analysed in more detail.
Some of the proposed sites around Wales had stations before, which were closed in the 1960s, but the review of possible new railway stations will consider how economical the stations will be and how financially strong the cases for them are. Network Rail will be advising on how ‘deliverable’ the stations are, which will be a consideration in the end decision.
The aim behind the scheme, according to transport expert Stuart Cole, quoted in the article, is to encourage people to opt for public transport instead of hopping in their cars for the commute to work, reducing cars on the road in rush hour, and to also create better links to more rural areas in North Wales and West Wales.
In the last year, the number of train users has gone up. When I took the Wales Online poll on whether or not the new train stations should be built, a massive 91% of those who had taken part voted ‘yes!’ – there’s obviously an appetite for the new stations and hopefully this public opinion will be considered by the powers that be when it comes to decision time.
Certainly a station in St Mellons will allow many people from East Cardiff to take the train to work or on leisure excursions without having to pay hefty taxi fares or car parking fees incurred by travelling to Newport or Cardiff Central and also, maybe more importantly, encourage people to leave the car at home and take a greener, more environmentally friendly transport option.
However, if these new stations do come to be, then one thing is also clear; more carriages are needed.
Two carriages on match day just isn’t enough, capeesh?