Place Rogiet Station code STJ DfT category E Original company Great Western Railway | Grid reference ST462875 Managed by Arriva Trains Wales 2011/12 0.189 million Number of platforms 4 | |
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Address Rogiet, Caldicot, United Kingdom Similar Severn Tunnel, Caldicot railway station, Newport railway station, Patchway railway station, Filton Abbey Wood rail | ||
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.
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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
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, although the station was always named Severn Tunnel Junction from the time that it opened to the public on 1 December 1886.
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. 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.
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. 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. 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.