Energlyn railway station

Energlyn & Churchill Park railway station is a proposed railway station at Energlyn, Wales, on the Rhymney Line. The name is due to the fact the northbound platform is in Energlyn whilst the southbound one is in Churchill Park. The station would be sited between Llanbradach and Aber.

History
The provision of a station on the Rhymney Line at Energlyn was raised in January 2001 when Sue Essex AM was reported to have instructed that £16 million should be set aside for works to improve capacity on the line, including a new station. The failure of Railtrack delayed the project which was next mentioned in Network Rail's Wales Route Utilisation Strategy for Control Period 4 (2009-2014). The station was identified as a longer-term option to be undertaken beyond the Control Period as part of the Sewta strategy which also involved installing a passing loop at Tir-Phil which would allow an increased service on the Rhymney Line. The station would serve new housing around Energlyn and Churchill Park, as well as Pwllypant, Penyrheol, Abertridwr and Bedwas. The population in the area is large enough to warrant a station but it is thought unlikely that patronage on the Rhymney Line would be dramatically increased as many potential passengers already use neighbouring stations. The initial service provision would be four trains an hour to and from Cardiff Queen Street and Cardiff Central.

In December 2008, Sewta submitted a £350 million five-year spending programme to the Welsh Assembly which included £38.7 million for works on the Rhymney Line, including Energlyn station. Plans for the station were put on hold when the works were not included in the Welsh Assembly's spending plans for 2011-2012, the reason given being the spending cuts imposed by the Coalition government. The project was however identified as a priority in the Welsh Government’s National Transport Plan in January 2012 with a projected completion date in 2015.

The design for the station was unveiled by Network Rail on 9 February 2012 as comprising two six-car length platforms with step-free access, disabled parking, a drop-off point, CCTV, waiting shelters, ticket machines, a bicycle storage area, emergency help points and train information displays. The design was developed jointly by the Welsh Assembly Government, Network Rail, Caerphilly County Borough Council, Sewta and Arriva Trains Wales. Provision of the new station will cost £5.2 million. Once completed, it will be operated by Arriva Trains Wales.