The five new railway stations being built in Wales

Wales Online

21 hours ago

The five new railway stations being built in Wales
The stations are designed to stop overcrowding on the M4
The proposed Newport West station
(Image: TfW )
Five new railway stations, which it is hoped will ease congestion on the M4, were among the things the UK Government said will fund as part of a £445m investment rail programme in Wales.
The stations, between Cardiff and the Severn Tunnel, were first suggested as part of a package proposed by Lord Burns, who was tasked with coming up with alternatives to the now-abandoned M4 relief road.
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The South East Wales Transport Commission made 58 recommendations to give make it easier for people to travel without their cars, and in turn ease car use on the M4 which included five new stations colloquially referred to as the Burns stations. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
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In her statement Rachel Reeves committed £300m to build the Burns stations, but also other improvements.
We asked both Welsh Government and Transport for Wales for any updates given the spending review rail announcement. There are also outstanding questions from the Treasury about the figures we've been given and exactly what will be spent on what.
In terms of the Burns stations, train lines and any timeline for works to begin, here is what we know so far:
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The stations
Currently there are only three stations between Cardiff and the Severn Tunnel, but the proposal is for new stations to be built at Cardiff East (Newport Road), Newport West, Somerton, Llanwern, as well as Magor and Undy.
How the new map would look
Those were identified by Lord Burns as being places where there is demand based on where people live, visit and work.
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The most recent report looking at changes to rail in south Wales was published at the end of 2024, and said they would require five years of construction and cost a total of £385m.
Each station in detail
The designs of each are preliminary, and Transport for Wales (TfW) say they could yet change.
Cardiff East
The current design for the Cardiff East station
(Image: TfW )
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This, formerly known as Newport Road, would have a footbridge and dedicated drop-off and pick-up area. The main access would be from Rover Way, it would also connect to Beresford Road and Horwood Close. There would be no dedicated car park.
Newport West
The proposed Newport West station
(Image: TfW )
There would be 250 car parking spaces at this station which would be accessed by the A48 Southern Distributor Road and buses would use Lighthouse Road. It would feature a station building, retail and commercial spaces.
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The station would link to Maesglas and Duffryn.
Somerton
Somerton station, as it could look
(Image: TfW )
Placed between Somerton, Beechwood and parts of Lliswerry and Alway, this station would have up to 50 spaces - although the car park design could change. There would also be a dedicated drop off and pick up area.
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Buses would use Cromwell Road to connect to the station.
Llanwern
Llanwern station with its footbridge - although the design could yet change
(Image: TfW )
This would include 260 surfaced car parking spaces with use of up to 1,000 for event days. Monk's Ditch Drive would give car and bus access to the main car park. There will be some short stay bays, and cycle storage.
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There would be a step-free access footbridge.
Magor and Undy
The Magor and Undy proposed station
(Image: TfW )
This station would have connections to the bus stations on Main Road, and the existing subway from West End would remain but won't be part of the main access to the station. Access to the pick-up and drop-off spots will be via the B4245 Main Road.
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Which trains will stop?
The new stations would be built on relief lines which would be upgraded by Network Rail to allow new passenger services to run on it. Relief tracks next to the existing main line be improved to carry faster passenger services, opening up the ability for passenger trains to use the service without need to build a new track.
The new stations would link with local bus services, and have good walking, cycling and wheeling access.
The new passenger service could use trains which have a low floor for easily accessible level boarding. The current platform design is for 170m long platforms, allowing up to eight car trains to stop. However, the initial services would be trains with three or four cars which allow level boarding between the train and platform.
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How many more trains will there be?
The new stations, as well as new trains, would "significantly increase" train frequency and capacity at peak time. Extra stops will be added to the Cheltenham route.
At least two trains an hour would serve the new stations which could up to three or four, that's as well as the long-distance GWR Cardiff to Bristol services.
The new services would take "just over an hour" if you travel the full route. "The new services are stopping trains, so the journeys take slightly longer than existing Cardiff-Bristol trains. It's just over an hour if you travel the full route. However If you currently travel into a city centre to catch a train and in future will be able to catch a train more locally you should still have a quicker door-to-door journey."
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Existing services wouldn't be impacted and you can still catch the long-distance trains if travelling from Cardiff to Bristol.
What will it cost and how long will it take?
A 13-week public consultation was carried out last year and feedback is being used to develop the design of the stations by 2026.
The most recent figures show that the total cost of the five new Burns stations is £335m, with £50m needed for the relief line upgrades.
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The funding announced by the UK Government in the spending review on June 11 was £300m but included other works around Wales.
We had asked the Welsh secretary what the money was for, but we were referred to the Treasury, which is looking at our questions to answer exactly what the plan for that £300m is.
The most recent documents available broke down the cost of constructing the five Burns stations as being £28m needed in 2025, £39m in 2026, £79m in 2027, £74m in 2029 and £34m in 2030.
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The document explains that is based on 2020 figures "but reflects a higher specification infrastructure option" than had been costed.
TfW does add a disclaimer in its report that "although the exact funding requirement will be confirmed in full business cases, the delivery budget below sets out the expected delivery pipeline and consequently our current best assessment of the annual funding that will be required to deliver the projects".