PLANS to reopen the Ebbw Vale to Newport and Cardiff railway line could be jeopardised by a new proposal for a disused colliery, a public inquiry was told.

The bid to use part of Crumlin's Navigation Coll-iery as a rail transfer facility for aggregates would throw the whole rail link plan into doubt, one expert warned.

Lafarge Aggregates Ltd is appealing against the refusal of planning permission by Caerphilly council to establish the facility on the site. The Argus Get Us Back On Track campaign - launched in July 2002 - is fighting for the passenger rail link from Ebbw Vale to Newport to open at the same time as the Ebbw Vale to Cardiff.

At a meeting in November councillors turned down the plans by Lafarge which wou-ld have seen 400 tonnes of stone delivered daily to the site by road, from the Hafod Fach Quarry and sent away by freight train.

At the opening of the inquiry yesterday, objections to the appeal were heard from the Ebbw Valley Railway Project, which clai-ms the proposed use, for loading purposes, of the line to Ebbw Vale would prevent other services using it for significant periods of time.

Richard Crook, head of business services and community regeneration with Blaenau Gwent Council, said: "As such it would be impossible to operate the proposed hourly service between Ebbw Vale and Cardiff/Newport.

"In essence, the successful co-existence of both freight and passenger operations would need a separate siding for loading operations." He added that the project's cost was based on the assumption that whoever built the passenger line and stations could use a non-operational line for significant periods.

Mr Crook stressed the importance of the Ebbw Valley Railway in the regeneration of the area.

He said: "It is vital that this appeal is not allowed, as it would jeopardise the implementation of the project, resulting in the opportunity being lost to bring long-term benefits to some of the most disadvantaged communities in the United Kingdom."

Proceeding