This page provides information and photographs relating to the closed railway line running between Gloucester and Hereford.

The map below shows the railway running due West from Gloucester to Ross on Wye, proceeding in a North Westerly direction to arrive at the county town of Hereford.

Like many towns and cities the railways of Gloucester evolved over a number of years. The first railway of note to reach the city was the Cheltenham and Gloucester tramway in 1811. This was followed by the Birmingham and Gloucester in 1840 and then the Bristol and Gloucester in 1844. The railway from Kemble to Gloucester arrived in 1845 and like the line from Gloucester to South Wales in 1851, this was built to the GWR Broad Gauge. Due to the Severn Tunnel not opening until 1886 all of the South Wales traffic was therefore routed via Gloucester to South Wales.

The railway from Gloucester to Hereford via Ross on Wye opened in 1855 being accessed from the Gloucester to South Wales line, via a junction at Grange Court. The line was originally built to GWR Broad gauge, being converted later to standard gauge in 1869.

Like Gloucester, the earliest railway to reach Hereford took the form of a tramway providing a connection with Abergavenny. This was eventually replaced by the standard gauge railway heading Southwards to Newport which opened in 1853. At the same time the line Northwards to Shrewsbury opened. Further branch lines were added from Hereford to Hay opening to passengers in 1864, and to Worcester opening in 1861. As mentioned previously the line to Gloucester opened to passenger traffic in 1855.

Several challenges were faced during the construction of the line necessitating the need for the building of 4 bridges over the meandering river Wye, and 4 tunnels at Ballingham 1,210 yards, Dinedor 110 yards, Fawley 540 yards and Lea Line 771 yards.

The line ran through a largely rural community with most of the stations accepting passengers and goods traffic. A number of minor halts were built which served some of the more remote villages in the area, these being at Backney, Blaisdon and Weston under Penyard.

The major stations served by the line were at Rotherwas, Holme Lacy, Ballingham, Fawley, Ross on Wye, Mitcheldean Road and Longhope.

An extract from the British Railways timetable valid from 2nd November 1959 to the 12th June 1960 is shown below, indicating the available train services at the time.

Closure of the line to passenger services came on on 2nd Nov 1964, with goods services continuing to use part of the line to Ross until November 1965.

A gallery of photograhs taken at the various locations along the line appears below and follows a journey from Gloucester to Hereford.