SOUTH Herefordshire's MP says the idea to reopen a railway station near the Welsh border is gaining momentum, and he wants to see it happen.

Local councillors have been campaigning to reopen the railway station in Pontrilas, which was closed in 1958 after almost 100 years.

They said demand was now much higher, and there was a strong case to open a new station half-way between Hereford and Abergavenny, with trains between South Wales and Manchester, as well as North Wales.

Jesse Norman, the MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire, said he felt "very strongly" about as he helped to originate the idea, along with Ewyas Harold Parish Council.

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He said he and the group had been working together "very closely", along with the Department for Transport in the UK Government, and with counterparts in the Welsh Government. He said this was to work out how they could get Pontrilas station "built and up and running".

He said: "I think it's a project with tremendous potential, it clearly has some momentum and we want to make sure that really works. I'm sure it will happen, the question is when, and can we make it earlier?"

Mr Norman said when he came to Hereford in 2006, the idea of having an enterprise zone or NMITE, the city's new university, didn't exist.

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He said Hereford was "miles away from that" at the time, so he felt the way projects were finished was by "identifying public need, making a big argument and going after the Government, private enterprises and businesses".

Hereford Times: Herefordshire Council ward councillor Peter Jinman at Pontrilas railway station Herefordshire Council ward councillor Peter Jinman at Pontrilas railway station

Parish councillors said they believed the new parkway station would serve up to 500 passengers a day and could carry freight.

Professor Clive Stainton, who's leading the project for the parish council with coun Peter Jinman, said he was optimistic about it being delivered, with "nitty-gritty" discussed.