Plans for new rural railway station still being worked up

Plans to open a railway station to serve Herefordshire’s Golden Valley are still on track – though few details are being made available.

The long-touted idea of a station at Pontrilas on the Hereford-Abergavenny line was recently given the name Golden Valley Parkway to emphasise its wider potential benefits to the area.

But hopes were dealt a blow in July when the incoming Labour government cancelled the Restoring Your Railways fund, which had been seen as key to getting the scheme off the ground.

The area’s MP Jesse Norman said at the time that the station plan, which he has long backed, “has been kicked into the long grass” without even the option of applying for government funding.

Behind the scenes, a “Golden Valley Parkway task force” has been pulled together and has just had its first meeting – though little has been published of this.

According to a Herefordshire Council spokesperson, council officers have now met with representatives from the West Midlands Rail Executive, Monmouthshire Council and Transport for Wales.

“It was a successful first meeting and the group has agreed to further meetings to develop the scope of the work that consultants will undertake to provide information about the viability of a future station,” the spokesperson said.

Local campaigner Gill Jinman, widow of councillor Peter Jinman who was a strong backer of the plan at council level, said many people on both sides of the border “are keen to show their support for the Parkway and lobby those they can, in writing and on social media”.

“But when information isn’t readily shared it’s difficult to find anything accurate and constructive to promote,” she said.