Craven Arms railway station

Craven Arms
Craven Arms railway station, looking north
Location
Place	Craven Arms
Local authority	Shropshire Council
Grid reference	SO431830
Operations
Station code	CRV
Managed by	Arriva Trains Wales
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	98,512
2011/12	100,338
- Interchange	4,756
2012/13	99,834
- Interchange	3,722
2013/14	0.101 million
- Interchange	3,812
2014/15	0.117 million
- Interchange	5,483
History
Key dates	Opened 1852
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Craven Arms from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Craven Arms railway station serves the small town of Craven Arms in Shropshire, England. Until 1974 it was known as "Craven Arms and Stokesay",^[1] named after the nearby coaching inn (the town having not come into being prior to the arrival of the railways) and the historic settlement of Stokesay to the south. It is situated at the junction of the Welsh Marches Line and the Heart of Wales Line, 20 miles (32 km) south of Shrewsbury. All passenger trains calling at the station are operated by Arriva Trains Wales, who also manage it.

The station has two platforms, connected by a footbridge. Platform 1, on the west side, serves northbound trains to Shrewsbury and beyond as well as trains both to and from Swansea via the Heart of Wales Line. Platform 2, on the town side of the station, serves southbound trains to Hereford and Cardiff.

Between 1865 and 1935, Craven Arms was the junction terminus of the Bishop's Castle Railway. There was also a junction serving the line that went to Wellington via Much Wenlock. Adjacent to the station once stood the now demolished carriage sheds. There continues to be a signal box at Craven Arms, to the north of the station by the level crossing.

History

The station in 1949

The Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway company was the first to serve the town, arriving from the north in 1852 and completing its route through to Hereford the following year.^[2] The Knighton Railway constructed the first of the three branches from the main line between 1858 and 1861. The second branch was that of the Bishops Castle Railway which arrived in 1865 via a junction with the main line about 1 km to the north, whilst the route from Much Wenlock was completed by the Wenlock, Craven Arms and Lightmoor Extension railway in 1867 (joining the main line a few miles north of the town at Marsh Farm Junction). The LNWR and Great Western Railway jointly leased the main line in 1862, whilst the modest Knighton branch would eventually be extended right through to Swansea by the LNWR over the course of the next decade. The Bishop's Castle branch, which spent its entire existence in receivership closed in 1935. The Much Wenlock line by contrast would remain little altered throughout its life, although the GWR did take control of it soon after opening; its passenger trains ceased in 1951.

Services

The junction at the south end of the station. A Heart of Wales Line service to Swansea departs.

Mondays to Saturdays trains from Carmarthen to Manchester Piccadilly (via Cardiff Central, Hereford, Shrewsbury, and Crewe) call at the station every two hours in both directions. Most Holyhead to Cardiff trains also call here (also every two hours). On Sundays the frequency is irregular and there are no departures until just before noon.^[3]

There are four trains a day (two on Sundays) in each direction between Swansea and Shrewsbury (plus a fifth as far as Llandrindod Wells, except on Saturdays) along the Heart of Wales Line.^[4]

References

1. Christiansen (2001) Chester & North Wales Border Railways p. 53
2. Body, p.62
3. GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 131
4. GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 129

• Body, G. (1983), PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Western Region, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Wellingborough, ISBN 0-85059-546-0

External links

• Train times and station information for Craven Arms railway station from National Rail

Coordinates: 52°26′33″N 2°50′15″W / 52.4425°N 2.8375°W