Of the four railways to Monmouth (plus one proposal) the Wye Valley Railway is the best one for re-opening for a few reasons.

The first railway to arrive was the Coleford, Monmouth, Usk and Pontypool Railway. It opened in 1855 to Usk, 1857 to Monmouth, and 1861 to Wyesham (goods only). This was as far as it got before amalgamating with the GWR in 1863. It closed completely between Monmouth and Usk in 1955, from Usk to a small spot called Glascoed in about 1960, from Monmouth to Wyesham in 1964, and is now virtually abandoned from Pontypool to Glascoed. It was retained for a Royal Ordanance factory there. Now parts of the line are being used for a major road from Monmouth to Newport (mostly from Llandenny to Dinglestow) and so are not available. A deviation would work if it wasn't for the rather casual method in which the road uses the trackbed, occasionally moving elsewhere. The valley involved is not broad, and railways are not good on hills.

A Pontypool to Usk service could work, but the present cut-back nature of Pontypool Road station (a small lump of bricks and platform slabs separating the two lines) means that the train would have to run to Newport. The short independant run, and the small size of new catchment area for the railway would mean a very small income which could not be obtained by trains already operating. To justify the line, a longer route would be needed.

Unfortunately, the route beyond is rather remote, does not really serve any places of interest, and does not run through unusual countryside. (Despite being in Wales, it is what could be called "typical English" - rolling hills of no great height with little rivers and good pasture land). Bingo - no profit.

And, folks, it's difficult to enjoy running a railway if the bank is continually sending threatening letters and ringing you up offering to declare your company bankrupt. This is what happens if you run at a loss with no backing finance for long periods.

So before this little line opens, we would like it if some more people (not to many - about 6,000) could move house, start living around here (preferably near a proposed railway station) and commute to work by train every day. This will need the trains to offer a commuter service with a maximum speed of over 60 miles per hour. But with elderly second hand stock this would be virtually impossible - and we can't afford new stuff. Besides, we still have to find somewhere to put the railway without interfering with the fast road.

So we forget that one.

The next railway arrived in 1873 from Ross-on-Wye, a bit to the north of Monmouth and further up the Wye Valley, in the form of the imaginatively named Ross and Monmouth Railway. The company went bankrupt a few times before finishing the route, and the 1873 terminus was at May Hill, on the east bank of the Wye and nearer to Monmouth than Troy, because the company couldn't afford to build the railway for the last ¼ mile into Troy. So there were two stations, with services going in opposite directions through the middle of nowhere, trying to tap a not particularly impressive amount of traffic. The Ross and Monmouth railway ran through incredible countryside with a population between Monmouth and Symonds Yat of about 40 people in the 5 miles involved. Symonds Yat station probably served about 40 people, but as road access there is more notable for its virtual absence than its incredible availability, there will not have been all that many locals to serve. Strangely, Symonds Yat remained fully staffed until the very end, and did not lose its crossing loop until 1951.

The railway started its career in 1873 moving what passengers and freight existed. It was operated by the Great Western Railway so the run from Ross to Pontypool was generally done as one service after the final stretch was between May Hill and Troy opened in May 1874. There were three crossings of the river in total, two tunnels, and three intermediate stations (excluding Monmouth May Hill), all with crossing loops as the line was single track. A greater portion of the route was on the riverbank, and during early spring it could well be under water. There were also problems with erosion and the inconvenience of the deep valley which the Wye gouges, with steep rocky sides. Once, near Symonds Yat, one set of rocks seems to have decided that they'd be much more comfortable on the railway than above it, and started to drop down. The matter was rapidly reported to the management of the railway, which took action sufficently quickly to stop too much damage. The line was closed for a little while.

Closure to passengers occurred in 1959 along with the Wye Valley line, marking the end for both May Hill and Troy. The line around Symonds Yat was lifted first - the remainer was lifted in 1967, three years after complete closure. The Ross and Monmouth railway holds the (extremely dubious) record for being the first of Monmouth's railways to close completely throughout its length.

Why not reopen this one? True, the route is very beautiful, but there is are serious factors against this line - both ends are built on and neither connects to another railway. At Ross it linked in with the Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway, closed in 1964 as part of the early 1960s 'unprofitable railways' cull. Ross-on-Wye station is very well sited for the industrial estate there - indeed, the estate is built right over the station site, with the engine shed and goods shed just clinging on. This single track line also passed through delightful countryside, but it crossed the river so many times and went through so many tunnels it can never really have made a profit.

Of the stations - well, the most northerly was Kerne Bridge, adjacent to the bridge of the same name and probably liable to flooding. The building was turned into an outdoor training centre, although they didn't take the roof off , and the gap between the two platforms is now filled in with an improved road junction extending onto it. It now appears to be an excellent private house. Lydbrook Junction, junction for the Severn and Wye line into the Dean Forest, has been flattened and the adjacent Swan and Edison factory has taken over the free land. Symonds Yat station is a car park for a nearby hotel. The tunnel has another hotel built into the western portal. The delights of the originally temporary Monmouth May Hill station are now the delights of the permanent Monmouth May Hill industrial estate. It avoided being used for the fast road on the line to Pontypool, which opted for the other bank of the river - it saved building a second bridge to take the main road back across to follow the rest of its present route. The costs of keeping the route up would be astronomical, it wouldn't link into anything, and to compete with the fast road trains would have to do at least 60 mph on a line best suited to 25. Also, Herefordshire local authority prefers Ross-on-Wye industrial estate, and, at the last approach, showed no sign of encouraging the restoration of this route. Although the map now claims Ross-on-Wye to be in Gloucestershire, we doubt they'd be any more enthusiastic about demolition of this local employment centre.

The main point in this line's favour is that it survived as an independant railway company, merely operated by the Great Western, until a Government decision after the First World War to make the railways more efficient saw the Ross and Monmouth railway taken over by the Great Western as the number of railway companies in Britain was cut from over 120 to just 4 major ones and a very few, mostly narrow gauge or owned by a man called Colonel Stephens, small companies that stayed independent. It was the longest surviving of the companies to serve Monmouth, lasting from 1865 until 1922.

The third line was the Wye Valley - third come, third go, and detailed in depth on this page or - rather more briefly - on this page.

The fourth to start work at Monmouth was the Monmouth to Pontrilas line. Everything that was built of this line still survives. This means ten yards of tunnel, now in the back garden of a private house. The occupants would probably prefer it if you didn't start appearing and trying to take pictures of this arch in their back garden.

We have a few thoughts on this route, but they are unlikely to materialise in the near future.

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Last of all is the Coleford Branch. It opened in 1883. It survived in its entirety until 1917. It had one intermediate station - Newlands. The route was built on a former tramway and was limited throughout to 20 mph, except for a few stretches where the speed was lower. Competing with the present road here would not be difficult, as it is narrow and winding. But then again, Newlands is not very big and nowhere near the former station, which is now a private residence. Coleford already has a direct, and quite fast, road to Monmouth. A twenty minute rail journey simply cannot compete on business terms with a ten minute drive. Especially when you have to get to the station first, and the site of both stations in Coleford now amounts to a large, spacious, and free car park. Passenger trains into the older one, which belonged to the Severn and Wye railway, ceased in 1929. The average loading was eight people. The future on these statistics, which were before the age of the private car, would not be good.

The cutting that leads out of Coleford is also now in use for a council car park. Parts of the line have been sprawled over by nearby landowners, although what trackbed is left is in excellent condition. The other inconvenience are a few private dwellings built on or very close to the trackbed. One example is a house at the western portal of Newlands tunnel.

Also, where would the line go? This particular route ran from Monmouth to Coleford. It was immediately adjacent at Coleford to the Severn and Wye station, but inter-company rivalry meant that there was no proper link until 1951, when a few crossovers were connected. This was despite the S&W wooden station building burning down in 1923 and the GWR having a perfectly servicable brick one, which had been disused for six years, available. Instead the Severn and Wye structure was rebuilt. This was even odder when it is considered that the S&W was half-owned by the GWR at this stage. Coleford is on a plateau above the surrounding land, so both lines had horrendous gradients and sharp bends. At Coleford, the Severn and Wye line would probably have a better chance. It was straighter, and didn't have any tunnels.

The early closure of the Coleford branch, after only 34 years, definitely stands against it.