A NEW station has opened on the outskirts of Aberystwyth, but the time of the first train was not advertised in case it tempted enthusiasts to ignore pandemic restrictions by going to welcome it.

Railnews can now reveal that the first departure from Bow Street was at 09.12 yesterday morning. 

The original station at Bow Street was listed for closure by Beeching in 1963, and the last trains called in June 1965. The new Bow Street, which has a single 100m platform near the original site, is the first station to be opened by Transport for Wales. The last new station to be opened in Wales was Pye Corner in 2014.

Bow Street, which also has a 70-space car park and cycle shelter, was funded by the Welsh Government and the Department for Transport. It is estimated that it will be used for 30,800 journeys in a normal year, which will help to reduce road congestion in Aberystwyth.

Welsh transport minister Ken Skates said the new station was ‘great news’.

Bow Street has also made use of a plant pest which had been growing in the area, because 5000 cubic metres of Japanese Knotweed was treated and re-used for fill at the site, saving 400 lorry loads which would otherwise have been taken to landfill.