Shrewsbury to Chester Line
Encyclopedia
The Shrewsbury to Chester Line, also known as the Severn–Dee Line (after the rivers on which Shrewsbury and Chester stand), was built in 1846 as the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway. The engineer for the line was a Mr Robertson while the contractor was Thomas Brassey
in partnership with William Mackenzie and Robert Stephenson
.
's main line from London Paddington to Birkenhead Woodside
until nationalisation
when it was part of the Western Region
until later transferred to the London Midland Region
of British Rail
. It runs from in England
to , also in England. Of the remaining intermediate stations, is in England but the rest are in Wales
. A campaign for the re-opening of Baschurch Station is now under way.
The towns served by the lines are listed below.
and Virgin Trains
.
At Chester, there are connections towards and (on the North Wales Coast Line
), towards Manchester Piccadilly
via (on the Chester to Manchester Line
), towards Manchester Piccadilly via (on the Mid-Cheshire Line
) and towards (on Merseyrail's
Wirral Line
).
At Wrexham, there are connections towards Liverpool (change at Bidston
) via The Borderlands line and London via the west coast mainline.
At Shrewsbury, connections are provided towards via and and Manchester via Crewe (via the Welsh Marches Line
), towards and (on the Cambrian Line
), towards (via the Heart of Wales Line
) and towards or London Marylebone
(via the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line
).
On 28 April 2008, Wrexham & Shropshire began providing services along the section of line between Wrexham General and Shrewsbury, continuing via the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line to London Marylebone. The service ceased on 28 January 2011.
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...
in partnership with William Mackenzie and Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson FRS was an English civil engineer. He was the only son of George Stephenson, the famed locomotive builder and railway engineer; many of the achievements popularly credited to his father were actually the joint efforts of father and son.-Early life :He was born on the 16th of...
.
History
It became part of the Great Western RailwayGreat Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
's main line from London Paddington to Birkenhead Woodside
Birkenhead Woodside railway station
Birkenhead Woodside was a railway station at Woodside, in Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England.-Background:Birkenhead Woodside railway station was opened on 31 March 1878 to replace the increasingly inadequate passenger facilities provided at Birkenhead Monks Ferry station.It was built...
until nationalisation
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
when it was part of the Western Region
Western Region of British Railways
The Western Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s and was wound up at the end of 1992...
until later transferred to the London Midland Region
London Midland Region of British Railways
The London Midland Region was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways and consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway lines in England and Wales. The region was managed first from buildings adjacent to Euston Station and later from Stanier...
of British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
. It runs from in 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...
to , also in England. Of the remaining intermediate stations, is in England but the rest are in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. A campaign for the re-opening of Baschurch Station is now under way.
The towns served by the lines are listed below.
- ChesterChesterChester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
(7 platforms and station cafe/ticket office/shops) - WrexhamWrexhamWrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
(6 platforms and station cafe/ticket office) - RuabonRuabonRuabon is a village and community in the county borough of Wrexham in Wales.More than 80% of the population of 2,400 were born in Wales with 13.6% speaking Welsh....
(2 platforms) - ChirkChirkChirk is a small town and local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It has a population of over 4,000....
(2 platforms) - GobowenGobowenGobowen is a large village in Shropshire, England, of population 3,927 .-History:The village was previously called Bryn-y-Castell, but the name in time changed to Gobowen. The name Gobowen is believed to originate from Gob and Owen who was believed to have rested his weary head there...
(for OswestryOswestryOswestry is a town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483, and A495 roads....
) (2 platforms and ticket office) - ShrewsburyShrewsburyShrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
(5 platforms and station cafe/ticket office/shop/British Transport Police presence)
Services
Passenger trains along the line are 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...
and Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland...
.
At Chester, there are connections towards and (on the North Wales Coast Line
North Wales Coast Line
The North Wales Coast Line is the railway line from Crewe to Holyhead. Virgin Trains consider their services along it to be a spur of the West Coast Main Line. The first section from Crewe to Chester was built by the Chester and Crewe Railway and absorbed by the Grand Junction Railway shortly...
), towards Manchester Piccadilly
Manchester Piccadilly station
Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. It serves intercity routes to London Euston, Birmingham New Street, South Wales, the south coast of England, Edinburgh and Glasgow Central, and routes throughout northern England...
via (on the Chester to Manchester Line
Chester to Manchester Line
There are two Chester to Manchester Lines between the cities of Chester and Manchester in North West England.-Description:Both routes to Manchester share the Chester to Crewe line for a short distance to Brook Lane Junction where the Manchester lines diverge to Mickle Trafford at which point the...
), towards Manchester Piccadilly via (on the Mid-Cheshire Line
Mid-Cheshire Line
The Mid-Cheshire Line is a railway line in the north-west of England, between Chester and Manchester.- History :The Mid Cheshire line has its origins in railways promoted by three separate railway companies in the 19th century. The Cheshire Midland Railway was opened to passengers between...
) and towards (on Merseyrail's
Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a train operating company and commuter rail network in the United Kingdom, centred on Liverpool, Merseyside. The network is predominantly electric with diesel trains running on the City Line. Two City Line branches are currently being electrified on the overhead wire AC system with...
Wirral Line
Wirral Line
The Wirral Line is one of the two commuter railway lines operated by Merseyrail that are centred around Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern Line...
).
At Wrexham, there are connections towards Liverpool (change at Bidston
Bidston
Bidston is a suburb of Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively, it is also a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the County Borough of Birkenhead, within the geographical county of Cheshire...
) via The Borderlands line and London via the west coast mainline.
At Shrewsbury, connections are provided towards via and and Manchester via Crewe (via 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...
), towards and (on the Cambrian Line
Cambrian Line
The Cambrian Line is a railway from Shrewsbury to Welshpool, Aberystwyth and Pwllheli. The railway runs first through the central part of Wales and then along the coast of Cardigan Bay....
), towards (via the Heart of Wales Line
Heart of Wales Line
The Heart of Wales Line is a railway line running from Craven Arms in Shropshire to Llanelli in South Wales. It runs, as the name suggests, through some of the heartlands of Wales. It serves a number of rural centres en route, including several once fashionable spa towns, including Llandrindod Wells...
) and towards or London Marylebone
Marylebone station
Marylebone station , also known as London Marylebone, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. It stands midway between the mainline stations at Euston and Paddington, about 1 mile from each...
(via the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line
Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line
The Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line is the railway line from Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury via Wellington; it was originally built by the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway. The line is double track throughout, with rarely used relief sidings at Cosford and 4 tracks through Wellington station...
).
Growth in services
In December 2005, Arriva Trains Wales introduced a new timetable to the line, providing an hourly service between Shrewsbury and Chester, Monday to Saturday, from early morning until around midnight (involving eight additional trains serving Gobowen). This improved service includes a through train every two hours between Holyhead and Cardiff throughout most of the day. The line has seen passenger numbers double during 2003–2004 and increase by 30% since 1999.On 28 April 2008, Wrexham & Shropshire began providing services along the section of line between Wrexham General and Shrewsbury, continuing via the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line to London Marylebone. The service ceased on 28 January 2011.
Incidents
- On 24 May 1847, five passengers were killed and many were injured in the Dee Bridge DisasterDee bridge disasterThe Dee bridge disaster was a rail accident that occurred on 24 May 1847 in Chester with five fatalities.A new bridge across the River Dee was needed for the Chester and Holyhead Railway, a project planned in the 1840s for the expanding British railway system. It was built using cast iron girders,...
. A ChesterChesterChester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
to RuabonRuabonRuabon is a village and community in the county borough of Wrexham in Wales.More than 80% of the population of 2,400 were born in Wales with 13.6% speaking Welsh....
train fell 11 m (36.1 ft) into the River DeeRiver Dee, WalesThe River Dee is a long river in the United Kingdom. It travels through Wales and England and also forms part of the border between the two countries....
, following the collapse of the Dee Railway bridge on the outskirts of Chester. A girder, which had cracked in the middle, gave way as the train crossed. The engine and tender managed to reach the other side of the bridge but the carriages crashed into the river. The bridge was engineered by Robert StephensonRobert StephensonRobert Stephenson FRS was an English civil engineer. He was the only son of George Stephenson, the famed locomotive builder and railway engineer; many of the achievements popularly credited to his father were actually the joint efforts of father and son.-Early life :He was born on the 16th of...
despite warnings from civil engineer, William FairbairnWilliam FairbairnSir William Fairbairn, 1st Baronet was a Scottish civil engineer, structural engineer and shipbuilder.-Early career:...
. He had warned Stephenson about the problems using cast iron girders only a few months before construction of the bridge at a meeting at the Institution of Civil EngineersInstitution of Civil EngineersFounded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...
in London, but his advice was ignored. A Royal CommissionRoyal CommissionIn Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
following this accident led to a re-evaluation of the use of cast-iron in railway bridges. Many new bridges had to be reinforced or rebuilt.
- On 7 June 1865, a rail crash at RednalRednal rail crashRednal rail crash was a rail accident that occurred near Rednal station in Shropshire.On 7 June 1865 a permanent way gang were lifting and packing the "up" line 600 yards north of Rednal station on a 1 in 132 gradient that falls from Whittington. A green flag had been set 1100 yards away at the...
killed 13 people when a heavy 28 carriage excursion train derailed near Rednal stationRednal and West Felton railway stationRednal & West Felton railway station was a minor station on the GWR’s Paddington to Birkenhead main line. Today this is part of the Shrewsbury to Chester line...
, having failed to notice warnings of track maintenance ahead.
- On 13 February 1961, a passenger train travelling from Shrewsbury to Chester collided with a freight train which was partially shunted into a siding in Baschurch. Three people died in the accident Television footage of the wreckage is available from the BBC.
- On 11 January 1965, the Coton Hill rail crashCoton Hill rail crashThe Coton Hill rail crash was a train crash which occurred on 11 January 1965, at Coton Hill, near Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England.It happened when a heavily loaded freight train ran out of control on the 1 in 100 Hencote incline, and was derailed on a set of trap points, eventually demolishing a...
took place at Coton Hill, near Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England. It happened when a heavily loaded freight train ran out of control on the 1 in 100 Hencote incline and was derailed on a set of trap points, eventually demolishing Coton Hill South signal box killing the signalman on duty and seriously injuring the driver of the train.
- On 19 July 2008, the 16:46 Cardiff–Wrexham service struck a tractor and trailer at the Weston RhynWeston RhynWeston Rhyn is a large village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies between the towns of Chirk, in Wales, and Oswestry, in England....
level crossing between GobowenGobowenGobowen is a large village in Shropshire, England, of population 3,927 .-History:The village was previously called Bryn-y-Castell, but the name in time changed to Gobowen. The name Gobowen is believed to originate from Gob and Owen who was believed to have rested his weary head there...
and ChirkChirkChirk is a small town and local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It has a population of over 4,000....
just before 17:00. The tractor driver suffered severe head injuries in the incident and the train suffered severe front end damage, although it stayed on the rails.