Work to build the new eco-friendly station at Newport is progressing well with the very first 'lift-off' for this scheme having been successfully completed, and now the Newport station area has a slightly different skyline, with concrete and steel structures rising behind the site hoardings.

In the early hours of Sunday morning last week (4 October 2009) a total of 33 tonnes of concrete and steel beams were lifted into position – all achieved in under seven hours.

Network Rail's route enhancement manager Mike Gallop  said: “Ten of thousands of people will benefit from the new £22m station.  The station will double in size with improved facilities and access for all. Working overnight meant no impact on passengers and train services, while off-site pre-construction minimised the amount of time need to carry out this much work."

Arriva Trains Wales head of stations Peter Northcott said:  “We are beginning to see the new station take shape and there is no doubt that it will be a modern facility for our passengers when completed.  We are grateful to Network Rail and their contractors for completing this important stage with minimum disruption to our services and our passengers.”

To carry out the work a gigantic 500-tonne road crane, which can reach as far as 40 metres, was used to lift the new structures into place. The two concrete rings and a steel ring beam stand at a combined height of five metres and form the central support column for the new station footbridge.

Since work has started, engineers have been working round the clock to complete vital ground work, including piling, excavating and building concrete foundations.

During the next couple of months, work will be focused on creating a new road junction on the south side, constructing concrete foundations for the station buildings and installing the new passenger footbridge.

The Newport station regeneration scheme is jointly funded by Network Rail and the Welsh Assembly Government.

The new station will become the greenest and is the biggest station project to be carried out in south Wales. Measuring 2,100 square metres, the new Newport station will be nearly twice the size of the old station and will be built with a special sustainable material - ethylene tetra fluoro ethylene - also extensively used by the Eden Project.

ETFE, which was originally designed for the space industry, is a recyclable material that is extremely lightweight and compared to glass, requires significantly less steel to support the structure.  The material also provides better insulation than double glazing thus requiring less energy to heat the internal space and doesn't pose any threat to the ozone layer.
In addition, ETFE does not degrade under UV light or atmospheric pollution and its unique non-stick, self-cleaning design means that grime can be easily removed by rain.

It will enable passengers to benefit from two new terminals and an additional new entrance to serve passengers from the northern side of the city. A station footbridge will conveniently connect passengers to all platforms

The station will also be equipped with three lifts, CCTV, modernised customer information system and new waiting shelters. Both terminals will also have improved ticketing and information points and more shops

There will also be a new and expanded car park with 250 spaces and platform 4 will also be extended by 50 metres to be able to accommodate longer trains