Monmouth - Transport

Transport

Monmouth is located beside the A40 dual carriageway road that links the M4 motorway at Newport in South Wales with the M50 motorway at Ross-on-Wye; this connects in turn with the M5 motorway south of Worcester in the West Midlands. The A40 passed through the town centre until 1966, when it was reopened as a relief road on land between the town centre and the River Wye. South of the town, the road passes through a short tunnel beneath Gibraltar Hill; to the north east of the town, it follows the line of the Wye valley. The town is linked to Chepstow in the south and Hereford in the north by the A466 road. Regular bus services run between the town and Hereford, Ross-on-Wye, Coleford, Chepstow, Newport and Abergavenny. The nearest major airports to Monmouth are at Bristol (41 miles (66 km)) and Cardiff (49 miles (79 km)). London Heathrow Airport is 120 miles (190 km) away.

Since 1964 Monmouth has been without rail services. Monmouth's main railway station, known as Monmouth Troy, was a coal distribution depot and a base for heavy goods vehicles for many years after its closure as a part of the rail network, but the building has now been dismantled and re-erected at Winchcombe railway station on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. The other station at Monmouth was Monmouth May Hill on the Ross and Monmouth Railway, built on the opposite bank of the River Wye to the town centre. This operated for many years as Monmouth Sawmills and Gas Works after its closure as part of the rail network.