On the 1st of June 1855 Hereford celebrated as the Hereford, Ross & Gloucester Railway was opened using Isambard Kingdom Brunel's broad gauge system.

The line was 22.5 miles long from the Grange court Junction in the Forest of Dean. On the 11th July 1853 the line opened between Grange Court Junction and Hopesbrook and Hopesbrook to Hereford opened on the 1st of June 1855.

Four tunnels were built on this line: the tunnel at Lea was 771 yard's long, Fawley 540 yard's, Ballingham 1,210 yard's and Dinedor 110 yard's long. There were also four viaducts over the River Wye, each one made of timber on stone piers with 6 opening 44ft wide.

The official opening day of this line was the 1st of June 1855 but the line had been vigorously tested the day before by an engine weighing 50 tons that ran from Gloucester to Hereford and back.

On the opening day a special train was run from London which carried representatives of the Great Western Railway and which picked up local directors at Gloucester. 150 passengers left Gloucester Station at 8am and the train arrived in Hereford at 9.25am, having made a brief stop at Ross at 8.50am.

The engine of the train carried the Union Jack on its funnel. 5,000 people came to meet the train when it stopped at Ross and although it stayed only a few minutes, during this time the children of Ross were paraded to catch a glimpse of the train. the procession was headed by the Ross Band and 8 boys carried an enormous tea urn beneath a canopy of evergreens and flowers. On top of this were the flags of the allied countries in the Crimean War: England, France, Turkey and Sardinia.

Nearly 2,000 children sat down to a celebratory tea which was provided in the goods station. In 1/2 an hour more than one quarter of a ton of plum cake and 180 gallons of tea was eaten and it was finished by singing the National Anthem. A public tea was held in the Town Hall for 200 people, followed by a ball for 150 couples, who danced until the early hours of the morning.

There was also a ball at the Swan Hotel for 60 couples, and a dinner at the Royal Oak Inn for 50 navvies who had worked on the railway line nearby. During the evening 3 balloons were sent up, canons fired and fireworks let off.

The train eventually arrived in Hereford at 9.25am and the city had been decorated with flags and banners celebrating the opening of the new line. In the morning the church bells rang and crowds assembled to see the procession.