I'm a staff nurse at Oak Park Day Hospital, Ysbyty'r tri Chwm in Ebbw Vale.
I believe I was on the last passenger outing from the Ebbw Vale station. I think it was a trip to Bristol Zoo and I would have been six years old.
What I remember as a child is everyone lighting up their cigarette lighters to give some light through the tunnel....I'll always remember it.
I think it's a brilliant thing that they're opening the line up again. It should have re-opened a long time ago. I think it's going to open things up for people in this area.
It'll be great just to get on the train straight down to Newport or Cardiff or Bristol - the world's your oyster.
It's an excellent thing and it'll help take some of the cars off the roads. It'll be great for Blaenau Gwent.
More about the new Ebbw Valley line
your comments
Matt
Keith Jenkins and all the rest of you. Why are you being so bitter about the railway line? It was the only obvious route to take as the line was still there, albeit upgraded. Or have I missed something and Nantyglo still has a direct line Arriva can use?
Keith Jenkins, Nantyglo
Nearly everyone is saying what a great advantage the train will be to Ebbw Vale. What about the people living in Brynmawr, Nantyglo, and Blaina, not forgetting Tredegar. We have all been forgoten by the "brains" at the talking shop ie Blaenau Gwent CBC. Everything is centred arround Ebbw Vale. In my opinion this scheme has been badly thought out (but what would you expect) - it has not taken care of the majority of the population of the borough. I will be very supprised if it is still running in 2020.
Pat Addison from Cape Town, South Africa
I grew up in Aberbeeg and as a child in the 50s it was a great adventure to take the train to Bristol Zoo with the school or up to Ebbw Vale to visit my grandparents. My parents still live in Aberbeeg and are quite excited about the train, but state that bus rides are free for pensioners. I wonder if the train service will come to the party and offer free or subsidized tickets for pensioners.
Mike from Monmouth
It is great to see the Ebbw Vale line opened again. It is a great pity that this cannot now be repeated for other lines that have had their trackbeds built over. In South Wales I am thinking about the direct line from Cadoxton to Penarth via Sully and the Blaenavon (low level) to Newport line which could have provided useful stations in Abersychan and Pontypool.
DENNIS
Why does everything revolve around Ebbw Vale these days the old railway service run from Brynmawe to Newport and the Ebbw Vale train come down to Aberbeeg were thay all change for Newport. Why is there now station in Aberbeeg thats were the juction is between the two vallies?
Mike Williams from Newport
Why all the fuss about a rail link to Newport from Ebbw Vale? What has Newport got that needs this service? I live in Newport, do a general shop in Cwmbran - where the parking is accessible and free - or if I need anything special I travel to either Cardiff or Bristol.
Leslie - Abertillery
Nice to see the line open again, but as to waiting for a yr before the line to Newport is open - this is crazy, the whole line should have been kept as a twin track line, and the likns to newport and Abertillery, as well as the centre of Ebbw vale should have all been done at the same time. But now at least getting to Cardiff will be a little bit easier. All I need now is a service to Newport and I would not need to take my car so much in the future. Still, slowly does it. Eventually the train will get back the Newport, and they will have to re-lay all that track that they ripped up in some sections, Afterall will be easier eh? Also if the second bridge over the valley is used, Will keep passenger delays down if, and when the freight service ever does begin.
Jonathan Parry, Presteigne
What about a station at Abercarn? It seems to have been overlooked.
Neil, Beaufort, Ebbw Vale
Great to have a service again... Pity I & thousands of others will still be taking our cars to & from work as we work in the 'real world' of the 24 hr clock & not the '9-5 office hours!' I start at 06-18:00(Days) & 18-06:00hrs(Nights) so the servive will be of no use to me what so-ever but maybe, just maybe, the service will change in years to come?!
Alun Stone, Cardiff
I have a timetable for the train services to Ebbw Vale from Newport in 1960 and it took 1hr 35mins with a change at Aberbeeg for Ebbw Vale. At least the service will be a lot faster, if not to Newport direct. That so called Dr Beeching should NOT have closed it in the first place (and all the other avoiding lines in Wales) for the sake of saving £28m!! Open the rest of Wales to railway services.
Stevey from Ebbw Vale
I just hope there will be enough investment, and that will mean several projects costing many millions, to attract people UP the valley, rather than down to Cardiff and Newport, further exporting money vis-a-vis jobs out of the borough. The local council think the Festival Park is enough, but talking to many visitors from Cardiff, they are unimpressed by it.
Ray Sullivan from San Rafael
Ebbw Vale needs the new rail links in order to revitalize the town. When I was a child in the 1940s, we had two railway stations. The Great Western down the valley to Newport and the London Midland to Abergavenny. The new rail service will again attract commerce and people back into the area.
David Wall, Beaconsfield
In a recent railway mag they were saying that the service to Cardiff could be starting this December. We travelled on the old Newport-EV line (changing at Aberbeeg) until the mid-50s when we travelled down from London to see my grandma - then my dad bought his first car. I'm looking forward to coming down for a ride on the new line.
Michele Thomas, Ebbw Vale
The campaign seems to have slowed down. Will we get a full service or a watered down 'this will shut them up' service?! Someone tell me!
Tony from Ebbw Vale
Great Scheme, Mike. It's a pity that there have so many delays. It's all down to the speed at which the funding is being made available.
Jamie
I think that the railway will be a great asset to Ebbw Vale and will benifit the town greatly - the link to Newport is planned for 2009 when the line is linked to Ebbw Vale's former Steelworks site.
Owain Vaughan, Newport
The only problem is that you *won't* be able to catch a train to Newport. Under the current scheme you would need to go on a 45-minute round trip via Cardiff Central if you want to go to Newport (the natural destination from Monmouthshire's western valley) or anywhere further east!
