Newport railway station

175005 departs with an Arriva Trains Wales service along the Welsh Marches Line.

• 1 train per hour (tph) to Manchester Piccadilly via Hereford, Shrewsbury and Crewe. These services are from Carmarthen, Milford Haven or Cardiff Central, operated by Class 175 Coradia units.[5]
• 1tph to Carmarthen with a two-hourly extension to Milford Haven via Cardiff Central, Bridgend, Port Talbot Parkway, Neath, Swansea, Llanelli and Pembrey and Burry Port. There is also one daily service to Tenby, departing Newport at 1640 and a daily service to Pembroke Dock, departing Newport at 1841. These services are from Manchester Piccadilly, operated by Class 175 Coradia units.
• 1tp2h to Holyhead via Hereford, Shrewsbury, Wrexham General, Chester, Llandudno Junction and Bangor. These services are from Cardiff Central, operated by Class 175 Coradia units and refurbished Class 158 Express Sprinter units.
• 1tp2h to Cardiff Central. These services are from Holyhead, operated by Class 175 Coradia units.
• 1tph to Cheltenham Spa via Severn Tunnel Junction and Gloucester. These services are usually from Maesteg but come from destinations such as Swansea and Fishguard, operated by Class 150 'Sprinter units, Class 158 Express Sprinter units and Class 175 Coradia units.[6]
• 1tph to Maesteg via Cardiff Central and Bridgend. These services originate from Cheltenham Spa but the 1700 service originates from Holyhead. These operated by Class 150 'Sprinter units, Class 158 Express Sprinter units and the daily service from Holyhead is operated by a Class 175 Coradia unit.
• 1tph to Crosskeys via Pye Corner, Rogerstone and Risca and Pontymister, operated by Class 170 Turbostar units.

In October 2008 the Welsh Government announced the launch of a new faster services between Cardiff and North Wales. The service was first operated by Class 57 locomotives and Mark 2 passenger rolling stock. The Premier Service has premier business-class accommodation.[7] In March 2012 the service was upgraded to Class 67 locomotives and Mark 3 rolling stock.

After securing the Wales & Borders franchise in 2018, Transport for Wales announced that services will reopen between Newport and Ebbw Vale by 2021.[8] On 12 December 2021 the service began to Crosskeys, with the full service to Ebbw Vale dependent on more track redoubling.

A Class 170 Turbostar at Newport with a CrossCountry service to Cardiff Central from Nottingham.

• 1tph to Nottingham via Gloucester, Cheltenham Spa, Birmingham New Street and Derby. These services are from Cardiff Central, operated by Class 170 Turbostar units.[9]
• 1tph to Cardiff Central. These services are usually from Nottingham or Birmingham New Street, operated by Class 170 Turbostar units, although it is not uncommon for trains to be operated by a Class 220 Voyager unit or Class 221 SuperVoyager unit.

A Class 43 HST tails a First Great Western service along the South Wales Main Line to London Paddington

A Class 158 arrives at Newport with a First Great Western service to Portsmouth Harbour with the two different styles of GWR logo on the benches

• 2tph to London Paddington via Bristol Parkway, Swindon, Didcot Parkway and Reading. These services are from Cardiff Central or Swansea as well as daily services from Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock, operated by Class 800s.
• 1tph to Swansea via Cardiff Central, Bridgend, Port Talbot Parkway, Neath and Swansea, as well as daily extensions to Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock. These services are from London Paddington, operated by Class 800s.[10]
• 3tph to Cardiff Central. These services are from London Paddington, Portsmouth Harbour or Taunton, operated by Class 43s, Class 158s, Class 165s, Class 166s and Class 800s.
• 1tph to Portsmouth Harbour via Bristol Temple Meads, Bath Spa, Westbury, Salisbury, Southampton Central, Fareham, Cosham, Fratton and Portsmouth & Southsea. These services are from Cardiff Central, operated by Class 166 Networker Turbo Express units, Class 165 Networker Turbo units and Class 158 Express Sprinter units
• 1tph to Taunton via Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-super-Mare. These services are from Cardiff Central, operated by Class 43s.[11]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Cardiff Central		Transport for Wales Rail Maesteg / Cardiff Central - Cheltenham Spa		Severn Tunnel Junction
		Transport for Wales Rail Milford Haven/Carmarthen - Manchester Piccadilly		Cwmbran
		Transport for Wales Rail Cardiff - Holyhead
Pye Corner		Transport for Wales Ebbw Valley Railway		Terminus
Cardiff Central		CrossCountry Cardiff Central - Nottingham		Terminus
				Terminus
Cardiff Central		Great Western Railway Cardiff Central / Swansea - London Paddington		Bristol Parkway
		Great Western Railway Cardiff Central - Taunton		Severn Tunnel Junction
		Great Western Railway Cardiff Central - Portsmouth Harbour		Filton Abbey Wood
	Future services
Cardiff Central		Grand Union London - Carmarthen		Severn Tunnel Junction
Cardiff East		TfW / GWR Maesteg / Cardiff Central - Cheltenham Spa / Bristol Temple Meads		Somerton

Exterior of the old concourse, converted to offices in 2011

Originally named Newport High Street, the suffix High Street became unnecessary on the closure of Mill Street and Dock Street stations to goods traffic in the 1960s.[13] Printed tickets and National Rail enquiries use the suffix "South Wales" to differentiate this station from its namesake in Essex. In 2007 the Newport Unlimited urban regeneration company proposed the station be renamed Newport City railway station; however, this suggestion was not taken up.[14]

The Welsh Government and Network Rail agreed a £20 million makeover for the station that provided two new concourses, a second pedestrian bridge over the tracks and a user-friendly bus-rail interchange at the station. The plans also included an extended platform 4 capable of accommodating up to twelve-carriage intercity trains and a new multi-storey car park for long-stay travellers. The initial redevelopment of Platform 4 did not allow for disabled access, resulting in station staff using a locally contracted taxi firm at £3 a passenger to move disabled and elderly passengers the half-mile from one side of the station to the other, in a complimentary service provision.[16] The first phase, platform 4 extension, was completed on 2 July 2007, with design works completed by Atkins.[17]

Panorama of the interior of the new footbridge at the south stairwell.

The new concourse during construction in December 2009

Exterior of the new concourse opened 2010

Planned to enable the station to cope with passenger traffic associated with the 2010 Ryder Cup, a second passenger bridge was built linking the whole station with a lift for all platforms. Network Rail claimed accessibility and safety are at the heart of the new design.

The new bridge is clad in ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE),[18] the material which protects the Eden Project in Cornwall. The station enhancements were engineered by Atkins Engineers, based in Exeter and Swindon, with design support from Grimshaw Architects and Vector Foiltec working as sub-consultants.[19] The new north and south concourses opened on 13 September 2010.[20]

The development was criticised by RAIL magazine columnist Barry Doe for being at the wrong end of the station, a lack of seating and generally poor design.[21] The station was nominated in 2011 for the Carbuncle Cup, awarded for the ugliest building of the year.[22]

Arriva Trains Wales had expressed concern about a leaking roof, an inadequate customer service area and insufficient ticket gates.[18] Network Rail said the roof was fixed in mid-May 2011, but issues had resumed in 2013.[23] Transport for Wales acquired the management of the station in 2018 and are replacing station infrastructure across the network.[8]

The whole Newport area was re-signalled from 2009 to 2012, providing speed improvements on the relief lines.

The Great Western Main Line from London to Cardiff was electrified as part of the Great Western Main Line electrification scheme.[24] As part of this the former footbridge was removed in 2017.[25] Following the introduction of Hitachi Rail British Rail Class 800/802 trains and the new timetable introduced on 15 December 2019, journey times between Newport and London Paddington were reduced to around 1 hour 30 minutes[26] The power from Bristol Parkway through Newport was switched on on 14 September 2019, with electric running extended to Newport from 15 December, and as far as Cardiff over the Christmas period.[26]

In September 2018, plans were submitted to Newport City Council for a new footbridge between Devon Place and Queensway, to replace the subway used since the closure of the previous footbridge.[27] The bridge opened in April 2023. [28]

The South East Wales Transport Alliance (SEWTA) have proposed an additional service (one in every two hours) to Abergavenny with a re-opened station in Caerleon, two trains per hour between Cwmbran and Abergavenny, and an hourly service to Pontypool and New Inn, subject to line enhancements in Abergavenny.

Transport for Wales have included some of these proposals in their plans for the later stages of their South Wales Metro scheme.[8]