Hereford railway station
Encyclopedia
Hereford railway station serves the city of Hereford
, England
. Managed by Arriva Trains Wales
, it lies on the Welsh Marches Line
between Leominster
and Abergavenny
and is the western terminus of the Cotswold Line
.
The station has four platforms. Platform 1 is the terminus for services from Birmingham New Street (via Worcester Foregate Street); it is also the terminus of the Cotswold Line from Oxford. Platform 2 is used for through trains into South Wales from Holyhead/Manchester Piccadilly to Cardiff Central/Carmarthen. Platform 3 is used by the service from Cardiff Central/Carmarthen to Manchester Piccadilly, and is also used for the service from Hereford to Birmingham New Street. Platform 4 is occasionally used for trains from Hereford to Birmingham New Street. An additional pair of relief lines, used by EWS
goods services, runs between platforms 2 and 3.
Accorded "Secure Station" status in 2004, the station has a staffed ticket office, self-service ticket machine
s, a café, and indoor waiting rooms. Automated ticket barriers have been in operation since 28 February 2006.
reached Hereford from its initial section from Ludlow
, it faced two problems:
The resolution was an agreement to create a new joint railway station, called Hereford Barrs Court. This would be a joint standard gauge/broad gauge
station, sponsored jointly by the standard gauge S&HR, and the GWR sponsored Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway
. When the Midland Railway
sponsored Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway
entered the town, they were given access rights, as were the later GWR sponsored extension of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
.
In civil engineering preparation for this, and as the only company planning to enter the town from the north, in 1849 the company built a brick works north of Dinmore Hill, which was fed by clay
from the earthworks of digging a tunnel south underneath it. In 1852, 2½ years later and having used 3¼ million bricks the tunnel was completed, freight traffic started in July 1852 to provide cash flow. However, construction continued, with the massive earthworks for a cutting to enter Barrs Court started in August 1852.
The plan was to jointly open both stations between all four railways on 6 December 1853, with what was planned to be Railway Fete. However, the first S&HR passenger service arrived on Saturday 28 October, which carried the chairman Mr Ormsby-Gore and engineer Thomas Brassey
. As the negotiations and financing of the joint station had taken so long, they arrived at an incomplete facility. The final Victorian Gothic building that still exists today was designed by R.E. Johnson, which opened after the Railway Fete, reported to be attended by 60,000 people.
Hereford Council applied pressure to the LNWR to close Hereford Barton, and after the post-World War I
amalgamation of the railways, the London Midland and Scottish Railway agreed conversion of Hereford Barton into a joint GWR/LMS goods depot, with consolidation of all passenger services on the current site. The Hereford Barton loop closed post the Beeching Axe
, and the site is now redeveloped as a supermarket.
, London Midland
, and First Great Western
. It is the terminus of the routes from Birmingham New Street & London Paddington via Worcester Foregate Street
and is served by all trains on the Manchester Piccadilly to Cardiff
and Carmarthen
route. Trains run hourly to Birmingham, Manchester & Cardiff Central (Mon-Sat) but less frequently to North Wales
, Oxford
, Reading
and London.
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Managed by Arriva Trains Wales
Arriva Trains Wales
Arriva Trains Wales is a train operating company, owned by Arriva, that operates urban and inter urban passenger services in Wales and the Welsh Marches...
, it lies on the Welsh Marches Line
Welsh Marches Line
The Welsh Marches Line , known historically as the North and West Route, is the railway line running from Newport in south-east Wales to Shrewsbury in the West Midlands region of England by way of Abergavenny, Hereford and Craven Arms, and thence to Crewe via Whitchurch...
between Leominster
Leominster railway station
Leominster railway station lies on the Welsh Marches Line serving the Herefordshire town of Leominster in England.Leominster has 2 Platforms for North and South bound trains respectively.-History:...
and Abergavenny
Abergavenny railway station
- Today :It is part of the British railway system owned by Network Rail and is operated by Arriva Trains Wales. It lies on the Welsh Marches Line line from Newport to Hereford....
and is the western terminus of the Cotswold Line
Cotswold Line
The Cotswold Line is an railway line between and in England.-Route:The line comprises all or part of the following Network Rail routes:*GW 200 from Oxford*GW 310 from Wolvercot Junction*GW 300 from Norton Junction*GW 340 from Worcester Shrub Hill...
.
The station has four platforms. Platform 1 is the terminus for services from Birmingham New Street (via Worcester Foregate Street); it is also the terminus of the Cotswold Line from Oxford. Platform 2 is used for through trains into South Wales from Holyhead/Manchester Piccadilly to Cardiff Central/Carmarthen. Platform 3 is used by the service from Cardiff Central/Carmarthen to Manchester Piccadilly, and is also used for the service from Hereford to Birmingham New Street. Platform 4 is occasionally used for trains from Hereford to Birmingham New Street. An additional pair of relief lines, used by EWS
EWS
DB Schenker Rail , before 2009 known as English, Welsh and Scottish Railway is a British rail freight company. EWS was established by a consortium led by Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation in 1996 by acquisition of five of the six freight companies created by the privatisation of British...
goods services, runs between platforms 2 and 3.
Accorded "Secure Station" status in 2004, the station has a staffed ticket office, self-service ticket machine
Ticket machine
A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine , is a vending machine that produces tickets. For instance, ticket machines dispense train tickets at railway stations and tram tickets at some tram stops and in some trams...
s, a café, and indoor waiting rooms. Automated ticket barriers have been in operation since 28 February 2006.
History
When the Shrewsbury and Hereford RailwayShrewsbury and Hereford Railway
The Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway was an independently developed English railway, the first to run train services in Herefordshire.Built between 1850 and 1853, it crossed a number of services by both the Great Western Railway and London and North Western Railway companies, became a joint...
reached Hereford from its initial section from Ludlow
Ludlow railway station
Ludlow railway station serves the town of Ludlow in Shropshire, England, on the Welsh Marches Line from Manchester Piccadilly to Cardiff Central. Trains are operated by Arriva Trains Wales....
, it faced two problems:
- The existing Hereford Barton station of the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford RailwayNewport, Abergavenny and Hereford RailwayThe Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway was a railway line connecting the Welsh port city of Newport via Abergavenny, to the major English market town of Hereford.Sponsored by the LNWR, it opened on 6 December 1853...
was not big enough to cope with all four railway companies planning on entering the important market town - The entrance route into Hereford from the north required extensive civil engineering.
The resolution was an agreement to create a new joint railway station, called Hereford Barrs Court. This would be a joint standard gauge/broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
station, sponsored jointly by the standard gauge S&HR, and the GWR sponsored Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway
Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway
The Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway , was a railway which ran for linking Hereford and Gloucester via Ross-on-Wye. It was opened on 1 June 1855 as a broad gauge line, it was amalgamated with the Great Western Railway in 1862. In 1869 the railway was converted to standard gauge...
. When the Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
sponsored Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway
Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway
The Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway was an early railway linking Hereford in England with Brecon in Wales.-Incorporation and early history:...
entered the town, they were given access rights, as were the later GWR sponsored extension of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton railway was a company authorised on 4 August 1845 to construct a railway line from the Oxford and Rugby Railway at Wolvercot Junction to Worcester, Stourbridge, Dudley, and Wolverhampton, with a branch to the Grand Junction Railway at Bushbury...
.
In civil engineering preparation for this, and as the only company planning to enter the town from the north, in 1849 the company built a brick works north of Dinmore Hill, which was fed by clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
from the earthworks of digging a tunnel south underneath it. In 1852, 2½ years later and having used 3¼ million bricks the tunnel was completed, freight traffic started in July 1852 to provide cash flow. However, construction continued, with the massive earthworks for a cutting to enter Barrs Court started in August 1852.
The plan was to jointly open both stations between all four railways on 6 December 1853, with what was planned to be Railway Fete. However, the first S&HR passenger service arrived on Saturday 28 October, which carried the chairman Mr Ormsby-Gore and engineer Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about one-third of the railways in Britain, and by time of his death in 1870 he had built one...
. As the negotiations and financing of the joint station had taken so long, they arrived at an incomplete facility. The final Victorian Gothic building that still exists today was designed by R.E. Johnson, which opened after the Railway Fete, reported to be attended by 60,000 people.
Hereford Council applied pressure to the LNWR to close Hereford Barton, and after the post-World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
amalgamation of the railways, the London Midland and Scottish Railway agreed conversion of Hereford Barton into a joint GWR/LMS goods depot, with consolidation of all passenger services on the current site. The Hereford Barton loop closed post the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
, and the site is now redeveloped as a supermarket.
Services
Hereford is served by trains operated by Arriva Trains WalesArriva Trains Wales
Arriva Trains Wales is a train operating company, owned by Arriva, that operates urban and inter urban passenger services in Wales and the Welsh Marches...
, London Midland
London Midland
London Midland is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. Legally named London and Birmingham Railway Ltd, it is a subsidiary of Govia, and has operated the West Midlands franchise since 11 November 2007....
, and First Great Western
First Great Western
First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
. It is the terminus of the routes from Birmingham New Street & London Paddington via Worcester Foregate Street
Worcester Foregate Street railway station
Worcester Foregate Street railway station, opened by the Great Western Railway in 1860, is situated in the centre of the city of Worcester, in Worcestershire, England. It is physically the smaller of the two stations serving the city, but is more centrally located...
and is served by all trains on the Manchester Piccadilly to Cardiff
Cardiff Central railway station
Cardiff Central railway station is a major railway station on the South Wales Main Line in Cardiff, Wales.It is the largest and busiest station in Wales and one of the major stations of the British rail network, the tenth busiest station in the United Kingdom outside of London , based on 2007/08...
and Carmarthen
Carmarthen railway station
Carmarthen railway station is situated south of the River Towy on the edge of the town of Carmarthen. It is located on the West Wales Line and is managed by Arriva Trains Wales, who operate most of the passenger trains serving it...
route. Trains run hourly to Birmingham, Manchester & Cardiff Central (Mon-Sat) but less frequently to North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
, Oxford
Oxford railway station
Oxford railway station is a mainline railway station serving the city of Oxford, England. It is about west of the city centre, northwest of Frideswide Square and the eastern end of Botley Road, and on the line linking with . It is also on the line for trains between and Hereford via...
, Reading
Reading railway station
Reading railway station is a major rail transport hub in the English town of Reading. It is situated on the northern edge of the town centre, close to the main retail and commercial areas, and also the River Thames...
and London.