Newport South Wales station

[Woolos 22]

Newport South Wales: South entrance to
South entrance to Newport station is closed due to unsafe roofing canopy.
Shuttle taxi is available to transport passangers to the Godfrey Road entrance.

 

[Western 52]

Presumably why platform 1 is also shut today.

 

[Richard Scott]

Presumably why platform 1 is also shut today.

That's not good for a building that isn't that old. Noticed some buckets under the roof on overbridge when I was there on Saturday. Thought it was poor for a reasonably new building then.

 

[Western 52]

Yes it's not a great building. The lifts often seem faulty too.

 

[Tomos y Tanc]

That's not good for a building that isn't that old. Noticed some buckets under the roof on overbridge when I was there on Saturday. Thought it was poor for a reasonably new building then.

Added to which the station was recently voted the third ugliest building in the world! Pretty poor all round for what was meant to be a prestige rebuild just over a decade ago!

 

[Dai Corner]

Added to which the station was recently voted the third ugliest building in the world! Pretty poor all round for what was meant to be a prestige rebuild just over a decade ago!

The city Council are now vacating the ground floor of the previous station building,which they've used since the current one was opened. It would be nice if it could be put back to railway use.

 

[WoodHillsian]

I came off the London train around 7-20 pm on Sunday. They had closed the staircase down to the South entrance, and a security guard was directing people into the lift to get down to ground level - took several journeys to clear the queue of people patiently waiting. There was heavy rain at the time - thought it was because there was leak onto the staircase - it's obviously worse then I thought at the time.

 

[WesternBiker]

The city Council are now vacating the ground floor of the previous station building,which they've used since the current one was opened. It would be nice if it could be put back to railway use.

I agree. It's slightly away from the parking/drop-off areas the way the station approach is now laid out, but I always thought the previous entrance area was decent and straightforward.

 

[MarkyT]

I agree. It's slightly away from the parking/drop-off areas the way the station approach is now laid out, but I always thought the previous entrance area was decent and straightforward.

The old entrance was more convenient for the shopping areas and bus station undoubtedly. Unfortunately, the old footbridge at the London end of the station has been removed since it closed, I assume primarily for electrification clearance, so even if an additional entrance onto platform 1 was created through the old building, passengers would have to walk all the way to the Cardiff end to cross over via the new bridge to the other platforms used by most trains.

 

[Tomos y Tanc]

The old entrance was more convenient for the shopping areas and bus station undoubtedly. Unfortunately, the old footbridge at the London end of the station has been removed since it closed, I assume primarily for electrification clearance, so even if an additional entrance onto platform 1 was created through the old building, passengers would have to walk all the way to the Cardiff end to cross over via the new bridge to the other platforms used by most trains.

True enough and I suppose views on the aesthetics of the new building might change over time. The inconvenient location and poor quality of the build won't go away though and I suspect the whole layout will be rethought eventually.

 

[robert thomas]

The old entrance was more convenient for the shopping areas and bus station undoubtedly. Unfortunately, the old footbridge at the London end of the station has been removed since it closed, I assume primarily for electrification clearance, so even if an additional entrance onto platform 1 was created through the old building, passengers would have to walk all the way to the Cardiff end to cross over via the new bridge to the other platforms used by most trains.

They could presumably re-open the subway

 

[Dai Corner]

They could presumably re-open the subway

Or have talked to the City Council who are in the process of building a footbridge over the railway adjacent to the old station building.

 

[mr_moo]

The subway is being infilled. It closed a while back although I have no idea if infilling has actually been done yet. The old footbridge was indeed removed as part of the electrification project (I was part of the electrification team) as it had insufficient clearance to the new wires. I always throught the new footbridge was a bit of a missed opportunity for a new entrance at the East end, but it's probably not that hard to retrofit some access onto it if that ever was to happen. That would be most useful!

 

[WesternBiker]

True enough and I suppose views on the aesthetics of the new building might change over time. The inconvenient location and poor quality of the build won't go away though and I suspect the whole layout will be rethought eventually.

Agreed: the poor build quality (which may of course include design flaws) will at this rate require substantial remediation - and the design has always seemed cramped to me.

 

[Class800]

What's the reason for needing taxis?

 

[Ashley Hill]

The subway entrance on P2/3 is obvious but where was it on P1?

 

[Dai Corner]

What's the reason for needing taxis?

It's quite a long walk for the less mobile passenger. A similar operation was in force between Platform 4 being (re)opened and step free access being provided from the main entrance.

 

[WesternBiker]

There's an article here - the cause given is high winds, damaging the bridge and South Terminal.

Part of Newport Railway closed after strong winds damaged footbridge​

The south terminal is closed to the public after strong winds damaged the foot bridge and travellers are being diverted. A notice on the south terminal reads: “Due to unforeseen circumstance the entrance is closed, please use the entrance at the rear of the station."

Gwent Police and Transport for Wales staff are at the station diverting the public to the rear entrance of the station on Mill Street. The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for strong winds across Gwent until 6pm this evening. Meanwhile, until repairs on the bridge are carried out the south terminal will remain closed.

Passengers are advised to continue to use the rear entrance on Mill Street. A spokesperson for Transport for Wales said: “Due to damage to the South Terminal roof from the on-going bad weather, platform 1 at Newport Railway Station is currently closed. “We’re working with Network Rail to assess and fix the damage and reopen the South Terminal as soon as possible.

“Passengers using Newport station are advised to check the for the latest travel information before making their journey.”

 

[Dai Corner]

There's an article here - the cause given is high winds, damaging the bridge and South Terminal.

I've never heard it called the South Terminal before. Makes it sound like an airport, which is very much wishful thinking!

 

[WesternBiker]

I've never heard it called the South Terminal before. Makes it sound like an airport, which is very much wishful thinking!

I know. I nearly added [sic] after the sentence, as it sounds so pompous!

 

[mr_moo]

The subway entrance on P2/3 is obvious but where was it on P1?

The subway was never a station access subway for the public. On the town side it came out near the pedestrian crossing and on the housing side it came up adjacent to the platform but with only an emergency exit gate connecting the platform to it - it was just a public underpass.

(From Google Earth):


The subway in the centre is an interesting case - the ramp is for postal trollies to come up so they could get loaded on to postal train in the past, although that's an activity that's long since stopped.
In the centre of the subway there is (was) a double door opposite the ramp from the island platform. This led into a postal sorting area and a separate tunnel that went towards the royal mail building. The other end of that tunnel comes out at a ramped access on Mill Street that's now looking rather forlorn.

From streetview:


From Google maps:


The tunnel was for years used for cables and pipes after it stopped being used for postal trollies. How that's going to work now the subway is being infilled I have no idea, and whether the full old postal tunnel is also getting infilled I again have no idea.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Thanks @mr_moo for the info. I’ve often fancied a mooch around down there but I suppose I’ll never get the chance now.

 

[mr_moo]

Probably not. Sorry! Worth a wander anyway - there's still some interesting stuff to see around there.
If you're a geocacher, follow this around for some interesting stuff: https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC88JWG_newport-railway-old-and-new

 

[Western 52]

As an aside, back in the 1970s I remember a class 08 with a couple of vans on duty at platform 1 to transfer passengers with mobity impairment to the island platform. The footbridge wasn't accessible for them and the subway wasn't for passenger use. I'm not sure how long that arrangement lasted, but some people had rare haulage!

 

[mr_moo]

Wow! That must have been interesting! I wonder why they couldn't just come up with some arrangement to use the subway when needed?

 

[Western 52]

I also wondered why they couldn't just put a train through platform 1 when they knew they had a wheelchair passenger.

 

[MarkyT]

Or have talked to the City Council who are in the process of building a footbridge over the railway adjacent to the old station building.

The subway is being infilled. It closed a while back although I have no idea if infilling has actually been done yet. The old footbridge was indeed removed as part of the electrification project (I was part of the electrification team) as it had insufficient clearance to the new wires. I always throught the new footbridge was a bit of a missed opportunity for a new entrance at the East end, but it's probably not that hard to retrofit some access onto it if that ever was to happen. That would be most useful!

Here's a Google Earth image from last year (2022) showing construction of the new bridge underway with main spans in place. Not the default image presumably as it's a bit poor, but available if you choose historic imagery and wind it forward to the latest.

I wonder if the subway is actually being filled in or are they just planning to securely block off at all its access points? Unless there's some major structural issue that forces an intervention, with the non-railway pedestrian traffic diverted away to the new bridge, an idea might be to create new/reused railside accesses to the subway associated with a new London end public entrance to the station. It might also have some useful function as an under track crossing for services such as cabling, water pipes etc.

I also wondered why they couldn't just put a train through platform 1 when they knew they had a wheelchair passenger.

Possibly difficult crossing over the freight flows on the reliefs and back while keeping time in those days. The 'ferry' moves you describe would normally be one way then the train could either wait in the destination platform until needed again or move off into a siding out of the way. There were often multiple locos sat in Godrey Rd sidings so sparing a shunter and crew for such movements probably wasn't too difficult.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

The subway entrance on P2/3 is obvious but where was it on P1?

It was near the end of the old station building. There were originally two options, a ramp and a flight of steps, but the former went years ago leaving just the ramp. It's all gone now, because that part at least has been filled in; I'm not sure what's happening with the rest of the tunnel.

Without a ramp at the city end, reopening it is not a practical proposition. Whilst the other end was partially a ramp from the tunnel to roughly level with the platform, there were steps (albeit shallow ones) taking you up to Devon Place, so that caused a significant mobility issue.

One of the problems with the tunnel was that it was awful to walk through - poorly lit in some places and poorly maintained in most places. The local graffiti artists used it as a place to hone their skills (!), and some of the "messages" were probably anatomically impossible!

Regarding the rest of the station, I've written elsewhere that I've always taken the view that the new entrances would be fine when they're finished .. and I'm not joking. There are so many design faults that I could be here for a while ... but I won't. The principle problem, though, is that it was built with no regard for the older parts of the station, i.e. they just look to be two separate areas and are not linked together properly. What the solution is, I don't exactly know - but I do know that there doesn't seem to be any desire to put the problems right.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I passed through Newport today and noted the work going on on P2/3 with most of the centre where the ramp is covered over. I noticed the buffet has long gone too. The London end of the station is beginning to look uncared for.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

I passed through Newport today and noted the work going on on P2/3 with most of the centre where the ramp is covered over. I noticed the buffet has long gone too. The London end of the station is beginning to look uncared for.

Yes, it's been like that for ages. There doesn't seem to be any evidence that work is actually progressing although, given that there's a lot of sheets covering the working area, it's very difficult to tell.

The buffet closed before Covid and has never reopened. It suffered from being at the wrong end of the station and being a long walk from where the majority of the trains stopped. It's difficult to say what can be done about that end of the station given it's position.