The Wye Valley Line - Railways of the Forest of Dean

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The Wye Valley Line
The River Wye runs to the north and west of the Forest of Dean,  with Ross-on-Wye in the northeast corner, Monmouth in the northwest corner and Chepstow in the southwest corner, where the River Wye flows into the Severn Estuary. At the beginning of the 19th Century, Monmouth was the focus of four branch lines, from Monmouth, Coleford, Ross-on-Wye and Pontypool. This section  focuses on the line between Monmouth and Chepstow and the branch from this line to Coleford.

The Wye Valley line, unlike the Severn & Wye and Forest of  Dean lines, was primarily intended for passengers. Before the construction of  the line, anyone wishing to travel from Chepstow to Monmouth or vice versa had a  43-mile round trip via Newport. Freight on the line consisted mainly from the  quarries along the line, which kept a small section open after passenger  services were ended in 1959 until 1992. With the remaining track in the process of being transferred to the Dean Forest Railway in 2019, it is now unlikely any part of this line will be re-opened, and will be converted to a cycle path instead.

Abbreviations used in the timeline : WVR - Wye Valley Railway,  GWR - Great Western Railway
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