98-711: The Ebbw Valley Railway ( Welsh : Rheilffordd Cwm Ebwy ) is a branch line of the South Wales Main Line in South Wales. Transport for Wales Rail provides an hourly passenger service each way between Ebbw Vale Town and Cardiff Central , and an hourly service each way between Ebbw Vale Town and Newport . The line was opened by the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company and the Great Western Railway (GWR) operated
196-441: A Welsh Language Scheme, which indicates its commitment to the equality of treatment principle. This is sent out in draft form for public consultation for a three-month period, whereupon comments on it may be incorporated into a final version. It requires the final approval of the now defunct Welsh Language Board ( Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg ). Thereafter, the public body is charged with implementing and fulfilling its obligations under
294-594: A Welsh-language edge inscription was used on pound coins dated 1985, 1990 and 1995, which circulated in all parts of the UK prior to their 2017 withdrawal. The wording is Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad (Welsh for 'True am I to my country'), and derives from the national anthem of Wales, " Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau ". UK banknotes are in English only. Some shops employ bilingual signage. Welsh sometimes appears on product packaging or instructions. The UK government has ratified
392-663: A census glossary of terms to support the release of results from the census, including their definition of "main language" as referring to "first or preferred language" (though that wording was not in the census questionnaire itself). The wards in England with the most people giving Welsh as their main language were the Liverpool wards of Central and Greenbank ; and Oswestry South in Shropshire . The wards of Oswestry South (1.15%), Oswestry East (0.86%) and St Oswald (0.71%) had
490-400: A final inspection on 16 December 2007 confirmed outstanding issues had been resolved, the track was handed over to Network Rail by Blaenau Gwent council. Network Rail and Arriva Trains Wales then arranged route familiarisation training for train drivers before the new service could be introduced. Driver training began on 18 December 2007. Environmental issues delayed construction of two of
588-588: A finishing plant employing 780 people remained on the site in 2001. First Minister Rhodri Morgan announced to the Welsh Assembly on 30 January 2002 that the rail link between Ebbw Vale and Cardiff would be reopened. Morgan said it would be part of a "package of measures to offset hundreds of steel job losses at the Corus plant". At the time, the Assembly Government's financial commitment
686-513: A new station at Ebbw Vale Town was commissioned by the Welsh Assembly Government. The station on the former Corus steelworks site, which closed in 2002, is a mile north of the line's initial terminus, Ebbw Vale Parkway, and was forecast to cost £6.5 million. It was opened on 17 May 2015. From 12 December 2019, a small number of services on the line started to be operated by TfW Rail's newly acquired Class 170 DMUs, and
784-637: A passenger service from the 1850s between Newport and Ebbw Vale . The line became part of British Railways Western Region in 1948, following the nationalisation of the railways . Passenger services were withdrawn in 1962. However, the route continued to be used to carry freight to and from the Corus steelworks in Ebbw Vale, until its closure in 2002. Proposals to re-open the existing freight railway line to passenger services were first mooted in 1998. The Welsh Assembly Government announced their commitment to
882-548: A pick up/set down area near the northbound platform and a 94-space car park. Rogerstone station is 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 miles (2 km) southeast of Risca and Pontymister station, and 3 + 3 ⁄ 4 miles (6 km) northwest of the South Wales Main Line. The station has one platform: the line reverts to single track after having passed Risca. Near the platform is a pick up/set down lay-by. Rogerstone station's car park has 64 spaces. Pye Corner
980-479: A single discourse (known in linguistics as code-switching ). Welsh speakers are largely concentrated in the north and west of Wales, principally Gwynedd , Conwy County Borough , Denbighshire , Anglesey , Carmarthenshire , north Pembrokeshire , Ceredigion , parts of Glamorgan , and north-west and extreme south-west Powys . However, first-language and other fluent speakers can be found throughout Wales. Welsh-speaking communities persisted well into
1078-449: A triangular junction about 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (2.4 km) southwest of Newport station. The line splits at Park Junction in the west; one section passes through Gaer Tunnel to form a north-facing connection with the main line at Gaer Junction , allowing trains to travel to Newport. The other section meets the main line at the south-facing Ebbw Junction and allows trains to reach Cardiff Central station, 10 miles (16 km) to
SECTION 10
#17327805701491176-1041: Is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people . Welsh is spoken natively in Wales , by some in England , and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province , Argentina ). It is spoken by smaller numbers of people in Canada and the United States descended from Welsh immigrants, within their households (especially in Nova Scotia ). Historically, it has also been known in English as "British", "Cambrian", "Cambric" and "Cymric". The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 gave
1274-614: Is a river in South Wales which gives its name to the town of Ebbw Vale . The Ebbw River is joined by the Ebbw Fach River ( Welsh : Afon Ebwy Fach; meaning 'little Ebbw river') at Aberbeeg . The Ebbw Fach is itself fed by a left-bank tributary, the River Tyleri . The tributary Sirhowy River joins on the right bank at Crosskeys , then the river continues flowing south east, through the town of Risca , then through
1372-546: Is available throughout Europe on satellite and online throughout the UK. Since the digital switchover was completed in South Wales on 31 March 2010, S4C Digidol became the main broadcasting channel and fully in Welsh. The main evening television news provided by the BBC in Welsh is available for download. There is also a Welsh-language radio station, BBC Radio Cymru , which was launched in 1977. Ebbw Valley The Ebbw River ( / ˈ ɛ b uː / ; Welsh : Afon Ebwy )
1470-688: Is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, which in turn is divided into Early and Late Modern Welsh. The word Welsh is a descendant, via Old English wealh, wielisc , of the Proto-Germanic word * Walhaz , which was derived from the name of the Celtic people known to the Romans as Volcae and which came to refer to speakers of Celtic languages, and then indiscriminately to
1568-448: Is not included in the Welsh Assembly Government's National Transport Plan. Network Rail will be carrying out further track improvement work in 2016-17 (to double the line between Aberbeeg & Crosskeys, as mentioned above and raise the line speed) and hopes to complete the project in 2018. This will allow the introduction of a regular service to Newport and Abergavenny in addition to the current one to and from Cardiff. On 19 March 2021,
1666-511: Is the label attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of nearly all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion , although the tales themselves are certainly much older. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts. Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The Bible translations into Welsh helped maintain
1764-610: Is the last southbound halt on the Ebbw Valley Railway. It is a single platform station, about 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles ( 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 km) southeast of Rogerstone station. Parking is provided for 62 cars and includes electric charging points. The Ebbw Valley Railway meets the Great Western's South Wales Main Line branch, which runs on the coastal plain between the cities of Cardiff and Newport, at
1862-418: Is the only station on the Ebbw Valley Railway with no car parking facility, although public car parking is available nearby. The track is doubled from Crosskeys to Risca, providing a passing loop for 3 miles (4.8 km). Risca and Pontymister station, 2 miles (3 km) southeast of Crosskeys, is in central Risca; the village of Pontymister is immediately to its southeast. It has two platforms, cycle lockers,
1960-732: The Cynfeirdd or "Early Poets" – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was supposedly composed in the Hen Ogledd , raising further questions about the dating of the material and language in which it was originally composed. This discretion stems from the fact that Cumbric was widely believed to have been the language used in Hen Ogledd. An 8th-century inscription in Tywyn shows
2058-500: The 2016 Australian census , 1,688 people noted that they spoke Welsh. In the 2011 Canadian census , 3,885 people reported Welsh as their first language . According to the 2021 Canadian census , 1,130 people noted that Welsh was their mother tongue. The 2018 New Zealand census noted that 1,083 people in New Zealand spoke Welsh. The American Community Survey 2009–2013 noted that 2,235 people aged five years and over in
SECTION 20
#17327805701492156-466: The 2021 census , 7,349 people in England recorded Welsh to be their "main language". In the 2011 census, 1,189 people aged three and over in Scotland noted that Welsh was a language (other than English) that they used at home. It is believed that there are as many as 5,000 speakers of Patagonian Welsh . In response to the question 'Does the person speak a language other than English at home?' in
2254-538: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of Welsh. The language has greatly increased its prominence since the creation of the television channel S4C in November 1982, which until digital switchover in 2010 broadcast 70 per cent of Channel 4's programming along with a majority of Welsh language shows during peak viewing hours. The all-Welsh-language digital station S4C Digidol
2352-584: The National Assembly for Wales election campaign in 1999. A plaque at Ebbw Vale Parkway commemorates Law, who died in 2006, and his work to re-open the line. It was unveiled by Jocelyn Davies AM on 10 December 2007, four days before the Ebbw Valley Railway's planned official re-opening. In February 2001 the Rail Development Society Wales, a passengers' campaign group now campaigning as Railfuture Cymru/Wales, called for
2450-756: The Polish name for Italians) have a similar etymology. The Welsh term for the language, Cymraeg , descends from the Brythonic word combrogi , meaning 'compatriots' or 'fellow countrymen'. Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic , the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons . Classified as Insular Celtic , the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and
2548-583: The South Wales Main Line at a triangular group of junctions in Newport – the line splitting at Park Junction with the eastbound section joining at Gaer Junction and the westbound section joining at Ebbw Junction. The line's stations and services are managed by Transport for Wales Rail. The Ebbw Valley Railway currently provides a half-hourly (two hourly Sundays) passenger service between Ebbw Vale Town and Pye Corner, where half of all services will continue to Cardiff Central, and half will continue to Newport during
2646-640: The United States spoke Welsh at home. The highest number of those (255) lived in Florida . Sources: Calls for the Welsh language to be granted official status grew with the establishment of the nationalist political party Plaid Cymru in 1925, the establishment of the Welsh Language Society in 1962 and the rise of Welsh nationalism in the later 20th century. Of the six living Celtic languages (including two revived), Welsh has
2744-594: The "hugely important role", adding, "I look forward to working with the Welsh Government and organisations in Wales in developing the new system of standards. I will look to build on the good work that has been done by the Welsh Language Board and others to strengthen the Welsh language and ensure that it continues to thrive." First Minister Carwyn Jones said that Huws would act as a champion for
2842-596: The 1880s identified a small part of Shropshire as still then speaking Welsh, with the "Celtic Border" passing from Llanymynech through Oswestry to Chirk . The number of Welsh-speaking people in the rest of Britain has not yet been counted for statistical purposes. In 1993, the Welsh-language television channel S4C published the results of a survey into the numbers of people who spoke or understood Welsh, which estimated that there were around 133,000 Welsh-speaking people living in England, about 50,000 of them in
2940-536: The 1993 Act nor secondary legislation made under it covers the private sector, although some organisations, notably banks and some railway companies, provide some of their information in Welsh. On 7 December 2010, the Welsh Assembly unanimously approved a set of measures to develop the use of the Welsh language within Wales. On 9 February 2011 this measure, the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 ,
3038-423: The 5 miles (8 km) to the next stop at Llanhilleth. It runs past the villages of Cwm , where a new station is proposed, and Aberbeeg , which had proposals for a station included in an early plan. Proposals to reconstruct the spur running from Aberbeeg to Abertillery are being considered. The line winds south from Llanhilleth for 2 + 3 ⁄ 4 miles (4.5 km), past the village of Crumlin , to
Ebbw Valley Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue
3136-486: The Assembly which confirms the official status of the Welsh language; which creates a strong advocate for Welsh speakers and will improve the quality and quantity of services available through the medium of Welsh. I believe that everyone who wants to access services in the Welsh language should be able to do so, and that is what this government has worked towards. This legislation is an important and historic step forward for
3234-550: The Greater London area. The Welsh Language Board , on the basis of an analysis of the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study, estimated there were 110,000 Welsh-speaking people in England, and another thousand in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the 2011 census , 8,248 people in England gave Welsh in answer to the question "What is your main language?" The Office for National Statistics subsequently published
3332-567: The Protection of Birds ' Newport Wetlands Reserve and Swansea's Canolfan Gorseinon Centre . Passenger train services, using Class 150 diesel multiple units , were restored to the line after a gap of 46 years, on 6 February 2008; between a new station at Ebbw Vale Parkway (close to the site of the original Victoria station) and Cardiff Central. The first train of the restored service left Cardiff Central for Ebbw Vale Parkway at 06:35 on Wednesday 6 February 2008. The first train to run in
3430-590: The Welsh Assembly Government provided the balance. By January 2010, the total project cost, including the line extension to Ebbw Vale Town, had risen to an estimated £32.6 million. The restoration scheme was named Welsh Project of the Year by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in 2009. The railway had been shortlisted in the community benefit category, along with the Royal Society for
3528-765: The Welsh Government announced that it would spend £70 million on adding passenger services to Newport. Services between Newport and Crosskeys began operating on 13 December 2021, but suspended in March 2023. Service are set to be resumed from December 2023, running to Ebbw Vale Town. In September 2020 Network Rail replaced a bridge in Crumlin that carried the railway over the River Ebbw . The new structure, made of concrete and steel, cost £5 million and will allow for two tracks in preparation for future doubling of
3626-496: The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, all new signs have Welsh displayed first. There have been incidents of one of the languages being vandalised, which may be considered a hate crime . Since 2000, the teaching of Welsh has been compulsory in all schools in Wales up to age 16; this has had an effect in stabilising and reversing the decline in the language. Text on UK coins tends to be in English and Latin. However,
3724-637: The Welsh Language Scheme. The list of other public bodies which have to prepare Schemes could be added to by initially the Secretary of State for Wales, from 1993 to 1997, by way of statutory instrument . Subsequent to the forming of the National Assembly for Wales in 1997, the Government Minister responsible for the Welsh language can and has passed statutory instruments naming public bodies who have to prepare Schemes. Neither
3822-667: The Welsh language official status in Wales. Welsh and English are de jure official languages of the Welsh Parliament, the Senedd , with Welsh being the only de jure official language in any part of the United Kingdom, with English being merely de facto official. According to the 2021 census , the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 (17.8%) and nearly three quarters of
3920-526: The Welsh language, though some had concerns over her appointment: Plaid Cymru spokeswoman Bethan Jenkins said, "I have concerns about the transition from Meri Huws's role from the Welsh Language Board to the language commissioner, and I will be asking the Welsh government how this will be successfully managed. We must be sure that there is no conflict of interest, and that the Welsh Language Commissioner can demonstrate how she will offer
4018-487: The Welsh of the 16th century, but they are similar enough for a fluent Welsh speaker to have little trouble understanding it. During the Modern Welsh period, there has been a decline in the popularity of the Welsh language: the number of Welsh speakers declined to the point at which there was concern that the language would become extinct. During industrialisation in the late 19th century, immigrants from England led to
Ebbw Valley Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue
4116-630: The Welsh-speaking heartlands, with the number dropping to under 50 per cent in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire for the first time. However, according to the Welsh Language Use Survey in 2019–20, 22 per cent of people aged three and over were able to speak Welsh. The Annual Population Survey (APS) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that as of March 2024, approximately 862,700, or 28.0 per cent of
4214-458: The branch are unstaffed, and at first lacked any ticket issuing facilities; but in late 2009 a Scheidt & Bachmann Ticket XPress self-service ticket machine was installed at each station. The line has its origins in the tramways and waggonways constructed to serve the various iron works in the upper Ebbw Valley to enable them to receive raw materials and dispatch products. Developments included: The Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company
4312-408: The census. In terms of usage, ONS also reported that 14.4 per cent (443,800) of people aged three or older in Wales reported that they spoke Welsh daily in March 2024, with 5.4 per cent (165,500) speaking it weekly and 6.5 per cent (201,200) less often. Approximately 1.7 per cent (51,700) reported that they never spoke Welsh despite being able to speak the language, with the remaining 72.0 per cent of
4410-414: The course of the 20th century this monolingual population all but disappeared, but a small percentage remained at the time of the 1981 census. Most Welsh-speaking people in Wales also speak English. However, many Welsh-speaking people are more comfortable expressing themselves in Welsh than in English. A speaker's choice of language can vary according to the subject domain and the social context, even within
4508-489: The creation of Old Welsh, Davies suggests it may be more appropriate to refer to this derivative language as Lingua Britannica rather than characterising it as a new language altogether. The argued dates for the period of "Primitive Welsh" are widely debated, with some historians' suggestions differing by hundreds of years. The next main period is Old Welsh ( Hen Gymraeg , 9th to 11th centuries); poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of
4606-602: The day. Journey duration between Ebbw Vale Town and Cardiff Central is 60 minutes. Intermediate stations (their approximate journey times from Ebbw Vale Town are shown in brackets) are Ebbw Vale Parkway (3 minutes), Llanhilleth (11), Newbridge (17), Crosskeys (25), Risca and Pontymister (32), Rogerstone (34) and Pye Corner (38). A dedicated feeder bus services link the line to Abertillery town centre from Llanhilleth. Actual passenger numbers greatly exceed forecasts. In 2002, passenger journeys were forecast at 22,000 per month. Whereas by 2008, 44,000 journeys had been made on
4704-479: The decline in Welsh speakers particularly in the South Wales Valleys. Welsh government processes and legislation have worked to increase the proliferation of the Welsh language, for example through education. Welsh has been spoken continuously in Wales throughout history; however, by 1911, it had become a minority language, spoken by 43.5 per cent of the population. While this decline continued over
4802-451: The deep-sided Ebbw River valley. The line is heavily curved along most of its route and has gradients of up to 1 in 65. Before the project to restore passenger services began, these conditions caused a maximum line speed on the line for freight services of 35 miles per hour (56 km/h). Extensive track re-canting has enabled the maximum line speed to be increased to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). The station at Ebbw Vale Town
4900-491: The following decades, the language did not die out. The smallest number of speakers was recorded in 1981 with 503,000 although the lowest percentage was recorded in the most recent census in 2021 at 17.8 per cent. By the start of the 21st century, numbers began to increase once more, at least partly as a result of the increase in Welsh-medium education . The 2004 Welsh Language Use Survey showed that 21.7 per cent of
4998-469: The highest number of native speakers who use the language on a daily basis, and it is the Celtic language which is considered the least endangered by UNESCO . The Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998 provide that the Welsh and English languages be treated equally in the public sector, as far as is reasonable and practicable. Each public body is required to prepare for approval
SECTION 50
#17327805701495096-476: The highest percentage of residents giving Welsh as their main language. The census also revealed that 3,528 wards in England, or 46% of the total number, contained at least one resident whose main language is Welsh. In terms of the regions of England , North West England (1,945), London (1,310) and the West Midlands (1,265) had the highest number of people noting Welsh as their main language. According to
5194-456: The history of Welsh, with rather indistinct boundaries: Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. The period immediately following the language's emergence is sometimes referred to as Primitive Welsh, followed by the Old Welsh period – which is generally considered to stretch from the beginning of the 9th century to sometime during the 12th century. The Middle Welsh period
5292-595: The language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns. Janet Davies proposed that the origins of the Welsh language were much less definite; in The Welsh Language: A History , she proposes that Welsh may have been around even earlier than 600 AD. This is evidenced by the dropping of final syllables from Brittonic: * bardos 'poet' became bardd , and * abona 'river' became afon . Though both Davies and Jackson cite minor changes in syllable structure and sounds as evidence for
5390-506: The language, its speakers and for the nation." The measure was not welcomed warmly by all supporters: Bethan Williams, chairman of the Welsh Language Society, gave a mixed response to the move, saying, "Through this measure we have won official status for the language and that has been warmly welcomed. But there was a core principle missing in the law passed by the Assembly before Christmas. It doesn't give language rights to
5488-555: The language. As Germanic and Gaelic colonisation of Britain proceeded, the Brittonic speakers in Wales were split off from those in northern England, speaking Cumbric, and those in the southwest, speaking what would become Cornish , so the languages diverged. Both the works of Aneirin ( Canu Aneirin , c. 600 ) and the Book of Taliesin ( Canu Taliesin ) were written during this era. Middle Welsh ( Cymraeg Canol )
5586-402: The line and increases in service. UK railway stations : A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 51°40′30″N 3°08′25″W / 51.675°N 3.14016°W / 51.675; -3.14016 Welsh language Welsh ( Cymraeg [kəmˈraːiɡ] or y Gymraeg [ə ɡəmˈraːiɡ] )
5684-453: The line in the 20 months since its opening, comfortably exceeding the fourth-year target of 453,000. Network Rail own and manage the track and signalling; stations and services are operated by the existing train operating company , Transport for Wales ; and the local authorities each own and operate the station car parks in their area. Each station has at least one Passenger Help Point and all stations and car parks have CCTV . All stations on
5782-452: The line's new stations. Colonies of slowworms , which have protected species status in the United Kingdom, were discovered near the tracks at the sites of Llanhilleth and Crosskeys stations. The lizards had to be moved to a safer place. Llanhilleth and Crosskeys stations opened on 27 April 2008 and 7 June 2008 respectively. Built at a cost of £3.5m, Pye Corner station opened on 14 December 2014. A feasibility study and further design work for
5880-448: The line's official opening. Arrangements included school choirs, brass bands, and plaques unveiled at each station by officials and dignitaries travelling the route between Rogerstone to Ebbw Vale. The ceremonies were cancelled two days before the scheduled reopening, as the project had not been finished on time due to "safety and engineering issues". Network Rail had confirmed in November that the new track had been tested successfully. After
5978-622: The modern period across the border in England. Archenfield was still Welsh enough in the time of Elizabeth I for the Bishop of Hereford to be made responsible, together with the four Welsh bishops, for the translation of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer into Welsh. Welsh was still commonly spoken there in the first half of the 19th century, and churchwardens' notices were put up in both Welsh and English until about 1860. Alexander John Ellis in
SECTION 60
#17327805701496076-471: The new service was delayed, eventually commencing on 29 January 2024. The Ebbw Valley Railway is a branch line of the Great Western Main Line. Predominantly single track, but with an 10 miles (16 km) double track section between Risca and Aberbeeg, the line runs 19 miles (31 km) between Ebbw Vale Town station, in the northeast of the mountainous South Wales valleys , and the South Wales Main Line . The track runs mainly south and southeast, following
6174-473: The next station at Newbridge , at the eastern end of Newbridge town centre. Newbridge station provides Park and Ride car park and bus interchange facilities. To enable the additional service between Ebbw Vale and Newport to begin dual track would need to be laid and second platforms constructed at Llanhilleth and Newbridge stations, allowing trains to pass each other. The line to Crosskeys, 3 + 1 ⁄ 4 miles (5.2 km) south of Newbridge, passes
6272-448: The number of Welsh-language speakers to one million by 2050. Since 1980, the number of children attending Welsh-medium schools has increased, while the number going to Welsh bilingual and dual-medium schools has decreased. Welsh is considered the least endangered Celtic language by UNESCO . The language of the Welsh developed from the language of Britons . The emergence of Welsh was not instantaneous and clearly identifiable. Instead,
6370-480: The opposite direction left five minutes later, packed with dignitaries for the official opening. Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones opened the line along with Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council's former Labour leader Hedley McCarthy. The first train from Ebbw Vale Parkway was waved off by local residents, who welcomed the link as a positive contribution to the valley's long term regeneration. Celebrations had been due to take place on 14 December 2007 to mark
6468-449: The passenger service to the line took place between 2006 and 2008. The scheme was part of the response to the closure of Corus' Ebbw Vale steelworks in 2002, and the resulting economic downturn in one of Wales' most deprived areas. The project was led by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council and supported by Caerphilly County Borough Council , Newport City Council , the Welsh Assembly Government and Network Rail. Capita Symonds project managed
6566-402: The people of Wales in every aspect of their lives. Despite that, an amendment to that effect was supported by 18 Assembly Members from three different parties, and that was a significant step forward." On 5 October 2011, Meri Huws , Chair of the Welsh Language Board , was appointed the new Welsh Language Commissioner. She released a statement that she was "delighted" to have been appointed to
6664-412: The people of the Western Roman Empire . In Old English the term went through semantic narrowing , coming to refer to either Britons in particular or, in some contexts, slaves. The plural form Wēalas evolved into the name for their territory, Wales. The modern names for various Romance-speaking people in Continental Europe (e.g. Walloons , Valaisans , Vlachs / Wallachians , and Włosi ,
6762-455: The points system at Gaer junction would need to be replaced before the line could be linked from Rogerstone station to Newport station. Major resignalling works would also need to be carried out. Passenger trains travel faster than freight trains, so the signals need to be further apart. The Welsh Assembly Government announced in July 2009 that the relevant works to enable direct trains between Ebbw Vale and Newport would be complete by 2011. Work on
6860-436: The population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills. Other estimates suggest that 862,700 people (28.0%) aged three or older in Wales could speak Welsh in March 2024. Almost half of all Welsh speakers consider themselves fluent, while 20 per cent are able to speak a fair amount. 56 per cent of Welsh speakers speak the language daily, and 19 per cent speak the language weekly. The Welsh Government plans to increase
6958-471: The population not being able to speak it. The National Survey for Wales, conducted by Welsh Government, has also tended to report a higher percentage of Welsh speakers than the census, with the most recent results for 2022–2023 suggesting that 18 per cent of the population aged 3 and over were able to speak Welsh, with an additional 16 per cent noting that they had some Welsh-speaking ability. Historically, large numbers of Welsh people spoke only Welsh. Over
7056-502: The population of Wales aged 3 and over, were able to speak the language. Children and young people aged three to 15 years old were more likely to report that they could speak Welsh than any other age group (48.4 per cent, 241,300). Around 1,001,500 people, or 32.5 per cent, reported that they could understand spoken Welsh. 24.7 per cent (759,200) could read and 22.2 per cent (684,500) could write in Welsh. The APS estimates of Welsh language ability are historically higher than those produced by
7154-407: The population of Wales spoke Welsh, compared with 20.8 per cent in the 2001 census , and 18.5 per cent in the 1991 census . Since 2001, however, the number of Welsh speakers has declined in both the 2011 and 2021 censuses to about 538,300 or 17.8 per cent in 2021, lower than 1991, although it is still higher in absolute terms. The 2011 census also showed a "big drop" in the number of speakers in
7252-568: The project in 2002, as part of a package of measures to help the former steel communities. Passenger services were restored to the line in February 2008, after a gap of 46 years, using Class 150 diesel multiple units . Predominantly single track north of Newport, but with an extended 10 mile passing loop between Risca and Aberbeeg, the Ebbw Valley Railway runs 19 miles (31 km) along the Ebbw River valley from Ebbw Vale , before joining
7350-422: The proposal was carried out for Blaenau Gwent council by infrastructure project management company Capita Symonds in 1998. Stations at Ebbw Vale, Cwm, Aberbeeg, Abercarn, Risca and Maesglas were suggested, and the plans included running some trains to Cardiff Central via a new station at Celtic Lakes on the South Wales Main Line. Law made fighting for the line's re-opening one of his major election promises during
7448-404: The rail link between Ebbw Vale and Newport to be reopened to help with the regeneration of what it called "already a socially deprived area". The plea followed Corus Group 's announcement that it would close its Ebbw Vale steelworks operation. British Steel Corporation had employed 14,500 people at their main steel mills in Ebbw Vale in the 1960s. The mills closed completely during the 1980s. Only
7546-449: The railway company acquired the line on 1 August 1880. The first passenger service on the line began on 21 December 1850, between Newport Courtybella and Blaina . The line was extended south to Newport Dock Street on 4 April 1852, and the northern extension from Aberbeeg to Ebbw Vale opened on 19 April 1852. Journeys between Ebbw Vale and Newport normally required passengers to change at Aberbeeg, although some services were direct. It
7644-409: The required fresh approach to this new role." Huws started her role as the Welsh Language Commissioner on 1 April 2012. Local councils and the Senedd use Welsh, issuing Welsh versions of their literature, to varying degrees. Road signs in Wales are in Welsh and English. Prior to 2016, the choice of which language to display first was the responsibility of the local council. Since then, as part of
7742-453: The scheme and the project contractor was Amey Rail, a subsidiary of Amey plc . A start of main works event was held in Crumlin on 28 September 2006 and was attended by Welsh Assembly Members Andrew Davies (then Welsh Assembly Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks), Irene James and Trish Law, the leaders of Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly County Borough Councils, local councillors, officers and project stakeholders. The event marked
7840-483: The service each month; also exceeding the monthly target of 33,000 set for 2012. In August 2008 Trish Law , Assembly Member for Blaenau Gwent, said she had received "many complaints of standing-room only and grossly overcrowded trains". Arriva Trains Wales provided extra carriages at busy times, Saturdays and holidays, to cope with the demand. Passenger journeys had exceeded 55,000 per month by May 2009, and by October 2009, over one million passenger journeys had been made on
7938-651: The shift occurred over a long period, with some historians claiming that it had happened by as late as the 9th century , with a watershed moment being that proposed by linguist Kenneth H. Jackson , the Battle of Dyrham , a military battle between the West Saxons and the Britons in 577 AD, which split the South Western British from direct overland contact with the Welsh. Four periods are identified in
8036-665: The six new stations, envisaged to be built at Ebbw Vale Parkway Victoria, Llanhilleth , Newbridge , Crosskeys , Risca and Rogerstone . Proposed stations at Crumlin and Ebbw Vale Centre were shown in the Rail Atlas Great Britain and Ireland 11th edition, published 2007. The project was forecast to cost £28,583,544 in October 2003. Electrification by 2019 was announced in the Department for Transport's High Level Output Specification of 2012. Work to restore
8134-528: The southwest. A second hourly service to Newport was long proposed for the line. A South East Wales Transport Alliance (Sewta) report in 2006 noted that additional infrastructure work would be required to enable the service to become half-hourly (one train running to Cardiff and another to Newport). An additional seven miles (11 km) of double track would be needed between Aberbeeg Junction and Crosskeys and additional platforms at Newbridge and Llanhilleth stations would be required. According to Network Rail,
8232-470: The start of major works on the scheme with a demonstration of a new rail ballast cleaner. The works upgraded the existing track to passenger standard, and included new colour light signalling, level crossing renewal and the reinstatement of 3 miles (5 km) of double track, providing a point where trains could pass each other. Six new stations and eight new 97 metres (318 ft) long platforms were constructed. Services were originally expected to begin in
8330-430: The steelworks at Ebbw Vale continued until the site closed on 5 July 2002. The final freight service to run from the Corus steelworks in Ebbw Vale in 2003 removed scrap metal from site. Peter Law , the former Assembly Member (AM) for Blaenau Gwent , had been calling for passenger services between Ebbw Vale and Newport to resume on the line since the 1980s, while he was still a councillor. An initial feasibility study of
8428-485: The summer of 2007. A report to Blaenau Gwent council in March 2008 showed that on completion, the project was more than £8.4 million over the original budget. Funding came from three sources. The European Regional Development Fund 's Objective One structural funds provided £7.5 million through the Welsh European Funding Office , Corus Steelworks Regeneration Fund £7 million and
8526-451: The track at Gaer Junction, Newport – connecting the Ebbw Valley Railway to Newport – had been scheduled for completion by October 2010, but no decision on the link will now be made before March 2011. Rebuilding the branch to Abertillery, to replace the shuttle bus service, has been planned. The proposal for a new station and track (which would need to be re-laid for 1 + 3 ⁄ 4 miles (3 km) between Aberbeeg and Abertillery),
8624-488: The units replaced the 150s as the line's primary traction and rolling stock from 16 December 2019. Regular passenger services between Newport and Park Junction were restored from 13 December 2021, though services before 2024 only ran between Newport and Crosskeys , and not to and from Ebbw Vale. The service was set to be extended to Ebbw Vale Town in December 2023. Owing to a lack of suitable rolling stock, introduction of
8722-526: The use of Welsh in daily life, and standardised spelling. The New Testament was translated by William Salesbury in 1567, and the complete Bible by William Morgan in 1588. Modern Welsh is subdivided into Early Modern Welsh and Late Modern Welsh. Early Modern Welsh ran from the 15th century through to the end of the 16th century, and the Late Modern Welsh period roughly dates from the 16th century onwards. Contemporary Welsh differs greatly from
8820-606: The village of Abercarn , another site that had proposals for a station included in an early plan. At Crosskeys the line changes direction from south to southeast for its remaining 7 miles (11 km) to the South Wales Main Line, continuing to follow the Ebbw Valley, past the confluence of the Ebbw River and the Sirhowy River . Crosskeys station has two platforms, one for northbound services and one for southbound. It
8918-571: The western suburbs of Newport , alongside Tredegar Park . The tidal Ebbw joins with the estuarine River Usk seaward of Newport, before flowing into the Mouth of the Severn . In common with the nearby Sirhowy River and Rhymney River the correct English name for the river is "Ebbw River", not the more usual "River Ebbw". 51°33′N 2°59′W / 51.550°N 2.983°W / 51.550; -2.983 This article related to
9016-668: Was a branch line of the Great Western Railway (GWR), until the nationalisation of the railways under the Transport Act 1947 , when the line became part of the Western Region of British Railways on 1 January 1948. The line closed to passenger traffic on 30 April 1962, prior to the Beeching Axe , with the mineral branches following on 7 April 1969 and the Talywain branch on 3 May 1980. Freight services to and from
9114-622: Was complete by around AD 550, and labelled the period between then and about AD 800 "Primitive Welsh". This Primitive Welsh may have been spoken in both Wales and the Hen Ogledd ('Old North') – the Brittonic-speaking areas of what are now northern England and southern Scotland – and therefore may have been the ancestor of Cumbric as well as Welsh. Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to
9212-492: Was estimated at £7 million over two years, the project cost was estimated at £15 million and the line forecast to open in 2004. Proposals for the Ebbw Valley line, forecast to cost £27.2 million, were unveiled to the public in January 2003. The scheme was to provide an hourly service to Cardiff beginning in 2005, followed by an hourly service to Newport beginning in 2009. The display included artists' impressions of
9310-561: Was incorporated on 31 July 1845 and, having acquired the Blaenavon Tramroad in the same year, it rebuilt and extended the line, which re-opened from Pontypool to Blaenavon (North) on 2 October 1854. Two short and steep branches to Cwmfrwdoer and Cwmnantddu were opened in 1870, with a third to Abersychan and Talywain in 1879. A 99-year lease of the line was granted to the Great Western Railway from 1 August 1875 and
9408-511: Was opened on 17 May 2015, and became the new northern terminus of the line. Prior to this, the town was served by the Parkway station to the South. Ebbw Vale Parkway station is 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Ebbw Vale town centre and provides car parking and cycle storage. Buses pick up and set down in the station car park. From Ebbw Vale Parkway the line is single track, facing south-southeast for
9506-518: Was passed and received Royal Assent, thus making the Welsh language an officially recognised language within Wales. The measure: The measure required public bodies and some private companies to provide services in Welsh. The Welsh government's Minister for Heritage at the time, Alun Ffred Jones , said, "The Welsh language is a source of great pride for the people of Wales, whether they speak it or not, and I am delighted that this measure has now become law. I am very proud to have steered legislation through
9604-517: Was probably spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth . During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, thus evolving into Welsh and the other Brittonic languages. It is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Linguist Kenneth H. Jackson has suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern
#148851