 In the 1840s the ferry was purchased by the Bristol and South West Junction Railway company for use as a crossing, though in the event the company failed to raise the capital to build a railway.A subsequent scheme, surveyed and engineered by Brunel and completed by his assistant Brereton, was opened in 1863 as the Bristol and South Wales Union Railway, using the New Passage ferry to cross the Severn to Portskewett.New Passage Pier railway station, a rebuilt New Passage Hotel, a promenade, tea rooms, and a railway pier, improved the facilities for travellers.