FURTHER details about plans for a new £50million railway station and park and ride facility in Llanwern, Newport, have been revealed.
Plans for the railway station were announced last year as part of the Welsh Government's draft budget for the 2018-2019 financial year.
Transport for Wales, which is behind the plans, lodged an application with Newport City Council for a screening opinion in relation to the plans - which determines whether an environmental impact assessment is required to be submitted with a planning application.
Details of the proposed development are revealed in the application, including a new railway station with a 150-metre platform and 1,000-space car park.
"The proposal is for a new circa 1.7km passenger line running parallel with and connecting to the existing South Wales Mainline relief lines," documents in the application state.
"A new station will be located along the new passenger line and include a 150m long platform.
"Also proposed are new major events stabling (MES) line of circa 4km long, this line will be connected to the new passenger line and lines servicing Tata Steel.
"A 1,000-space surface level car park is proposed to the south of the new station connected via a footbridge."
The site for the proposal consists of an area of railway line to the north of the Glan Llyn regeneration site and the retained parts of Llanwern Steelworks.
Much of the site is covered in trees and it is bounded to the north by the South Wales mainline railway.
The proposed car park is on the Celtic Business Park.
Early issues for consideration in developing the plans have been identified, including the loss of woodland scrub and the impact of noise, vibration and lighting on homes in the area.
The impact on the setting of Llanwern park and garden, located one kilometre to the north of the site, will also need to be considered, a council report says.
A letter submitted to the council, submitted as part of the application, adds: "Transport for Wales was previously seeking to submit a planning application for proposed passenger and MES (major event stabling) railway lines, an island railway station, a pedestrian footbridge, 1,000-space surface car park and associated infrastructure works on land adjacent to the Llanwern steelworks, Newport, Wales.
"In order to obtain the benefits of MES line early, such as the acceleration of employment benefits, it has been decided to proceed with a planning application for a 1.6km length of track which will provide a staging area during major events when additional services are required for the mainline railway."
It adds that plans for the wider scheme, including the railway station and car park, will be submitted in a later application.
In a statement, a Transport for Wales spokesman said: "This planning application is for the initial phase of the Llanwern Rail Facilities project and will deliver infrastructure to support major events.
"Currently no date has been set for the submission of a further planning application."
Newport City Council's planning officers determined a screening opinion is not required with the application.
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