Wrexham General railway station

Wrexham General National Rail
Welsh: Wrecsam Cyffredinol

Wrexham General railway station
Location
Place Wrexham
Local authority Wrexham County Borough
Grid reference SJ329508
Operations
Station code WRX
Managed by Arriva Trains Wales
Number of platforms 4
DfT category D
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2007/08 Increase 0.588 million
2008/09 Increase 0.665 million
2009/10 Decrease 0.584 million
2010/11 Increase 0.614 million
2011/12 Increase 0.622 million
2012/13 Decrease 0.615 million
2013/14 Decrease 0.591 million
2014/15 Decrease 0.552 million
History
Key dates Opened 1846
Rebuilt 1912
Cafe and new Platforms opened 2008
Platform 4 and footbridge rebuilt 2011 (1846
Rebuilt 1912
Cafe and new Platforms opened 2008
Platform 4 and footbridge rebuilt 2011)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Wrexham General from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal
Wrexham Exchange station building
Wrexham Exchange site today. One platform remains in use, the other as a staff car park. Wrexham General is to the right.

Wrexham General railway station (Welsh: Wrecsam Cyffredinol) is a main line railway station and the main railway station serving Wrexham, north-east Wales. It is currently operated by Arriva Trains Wales, but services are also provided by Virgin Trains who operate a service to London Euston. Until January 2011 Wrexham & Shropshire also operated from here to London Marylebone.

The station was first opened in 1846, later becoming part of the GWR network and expanded in 1912. It is one of three railway stations in the central area of the town, one now part of General, named Wrexham Exchange, the other being Wrexham Central. It is the main hub for inter-city services in the area, and as a result 78% of all rail journeys (2006/07) in Wrexham County Borough start or end at the station. It is also a major hub for inter-city services in North Wales.

Until the early 1980s what is now platform 4 of Wrexham General, serving the Wrexham Central – Bidston service, was a separate station: Wrexham Exchange.

History

In 1846 the first steam trains began the Railway Age in Wrexham. The line was originally called The North Wales Mineral Railway and was backed by local businessmen, among whom the developer of the steel works at Brymbo, Henry Robertson, is well known.

There have been two railway station buildings on the site. The first was the original was built by the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway in Jacobean style with Dutch gable pediments. The architect for that station was Mr Thomas Penson of Wrexham, who also designed the Shrewsbury and Gobowen stations. It was built on the edge of Wrexham, a town which at the time was heavily industrialised and had many coal mines and steelworks to attract the railway companies.

The second station building was constructed by the GWR in 1912. The company decided the increasing rail traffic needed newer and more efficient facilities so the station was rebuilt to a standardised GWR 'French Pavilion' design, including ornate crestings on the roof "towers". The station design was unique in that it used stonework from the original building instead of standard red brick. It survived the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, as a through route for steel produced in Shotton and wood for the Chirk MDF factory.

On 24 April 1997, a wagon on an empty coal train derailed at a nearby level crossing. The train carried on for a mile into Wrexham General where the wagons scraped up the platform, damaging it and the station canopy.[1] That prompted a massive refurbishing, including new canopies, a jetwash of the blackened sandstone buildings, and platform retiling along all main platforms. The out-of-use bay platform saw no improvements and retained its 1970s lighting until 2008, when it was refurbished by the Welsh Assembly.

The suffix "General" was used by the Great Western Railway and later the Western Region of British Railways to differentiate their main stations from others in the area, which belonged to other companies. Following the Beeching axe, Wrexham General remains the only "General" station on the National Rail network, and other "General" stations (including Shrewsbury General and Chester General, which were simply renamed "Shrewsbury" and "Chester" respectively) lost the suffix or (like Cardiff General, the last station to lose the "General" suffix) were re-dubbed as "Central" stations. Because of the continued presence of two stations serving Wrexham, the other being titled Wrexham Central, the "General" suffix was retained.[2]

Until 1967, Wrexham General was served by GWR, latterly BR Western Region, express services between London Paddington and Birkenhead Woodside, which was withdrawn upon the electrification of the West Coast Main Line.

Wrexham Exchange

Now platform 4 of Wrexham General, Wrexham Exchange was originally a separate railway station opened in May 1866 for the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway (WMCQR). By the time that WMCQR had been bought by the Great Central Railway, the line was a through station connecting to the Cambrian Railways Wrexham Central Railway Station. The station changed hands again in 1921 during the Grouping, to the London and North Eastern Railway, as one of their few stations in Wales. Wrexham Exchange was named as such from 18 June 1951, with Wrexham General applying to all platforms from 1 June 1981.[3] A platform, which is now used as a staff car park, was put out of use to passengers from August 1973.[4]

A coal train from Gresford Colliery passes through Platform One in 1959.

Services

Wrexham General benefits from Inter-City services towards Holyhead, Birmingham International, Cardiff Central, London Euston and a Sundays-only service to Manchester Piccadilly.

The station is also situated on the Borderlands Line, providing local services towards Deeside and Merseyside for connections to Liverpool Central.

Arriva Trains Wales

A Borderlands Line service at platform 4.
An Arriva Trains Wales Class 158 waits at platform 2.

Main weekday services

Other services

Virgin Trains

It is unclear whether further services will be introduced now the open-access operator Wrexham and Shropshire has withdrawn services.

Normal Service Pattern

Arriva Trains Wales - Borderlands Line:[6]

Arriva Trains Wales - North-South services via the Shrewsbury to Chester Line:[7]

Virgin Trains (Mon-Fri only)

Evenings and Sundays

In the evenings and Sundays there is a slightly different pattern of service, all operated by Arriva Trains Wales

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Terminus   Virgin Trains
WCML Wrexham Branch		   Chester
Terminus   Arriva Trains Wales
Wrexham General to Chester Line		   Chester
Terminus   Arriva Trains Wales
Shrewsbury to Wrexham General Line		   Ruabon
Shrewsbury   Arriva Trains Wales
Welsh Marches Line		   Chester
Shrewsbury/Ruabon   Arriva Trains Wales
Cardiff Central – Holyhead		   Chester
Shrewsbury   Arriva Trains Wales
North to South Premier Service		   Chester
Ruabon   Arriva Trains Wales
Birmingham – Holyhead (via Chester)		   Chester
Wrexham Central   Arriva Trains Wales
Bidston to Wrexham Line		   Gwersyllt
Historical railways
Johnstown and Hafod   Great Western Railway
Shrewsbury to Chester Line		   Rhosrobin Halt

Facilities and further passenger information

Layout

A layout map of Wrexham General

Wrexham General comprises four operational platforms with two disused bay platforms at the southern end of Platform 1. These were used for trains to Barmouth via the Ruabon Barmouth line until the 1960s. Platforms 1 and 2 are on the main Chester to Shrewsbury line, platform 3 being on an island platform opposite 2; and platform 4, until the mid-1980s a separate former Great Central Railway station named Wrexham Exchange, was on the ex-Ellesmere to Bidston line, now the Wrexham to Bidston Borderlands Line. Platform 5, once opposite and on the same route as platform 4, became disused when the line was singled, however in 2008 it has been re-surfaced and is now a private parking space.

Recent developments

The station is currently undergoing a renaissance as a number of new services have been introduced. Since 2005 the station has been a stop of the two hourly Cardiff to Holyhead Arriva Trains Wales service, which occasionally extends to Llanelli. The two hourly Birmingham service has also been extended to Birmingham International and Holyhead.

In April 2008, Ieuan Wyn Jones AM, the Deputy First Minister for Wales opened a new Wrexham Network Rail depot. It consisted of the refurbishment of two terminal bay platforms to the south of the station for overnight stabling of trains and the construction of a crew depot. The development was opened to coincide with the start of services from Wrexham General to London by Wrexham and Shropshire, who utilised the depot until services to London Marylebone stopped in January 2011.

From February 2009 a cafe has opened on the station in formerly empty office space. In June 2011, construction began on the increased access for disabled people to platform four. The existing footbridge between platforms three and four was removed in preparation for the construction of a new footbridge which includes a lift on Platform four. This obviates the use of the road bridge for disabled access to platform four. The new bridge has been built to modern standards but in a style sympathising with the rest of the station design. The footbridge was installed in a record 12 hours and a timelapse video was shot of the event.

On 20 March 2012 it was announced that sections of the North to South Wales line would be upgraded along the Wrexham section of the line to a total of £46 million worth of improvements. These include redoubling the Wrexham – Chester section, and upgrading sections of the line to allow for 90 mph running throughout. This will allow for an increase in traffic between Wrexham and Chester, including further London services and a possibility of regular services to new destinations. One report has suggested extending the hourly First TransPennine Express Hull – Manchester Piccadilly service to Wrexham via Chester, which would provide a direct service to Manchester, Leeds and Hull. Other suggestions include extending the current hourly Chester – Crewe shuttle service south to Wrexham and north to Manchester (via Manchester Airport).[9]

Merseytravel are currently in negotiations with Network Rail and a number of other companies to take advantage of plans to upgrade the Halton Curve,[10][11] a section of the Liverpool branch of the West Coast Mainline which connects to Chester, in order to start direct services to Liverpool Lime Street via Chester and Runcorn.

Gallery

Oswestry, Gwersyllt, Plas Power & Wrexham on the Railway Clearing House map.

References

  1. ↑ "Eight-wagon night smash at Wrexham station". RAIL. No. 304 (EMAP Apex Publications). 7–20 May 1997. p. 6. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.
  2. ↑ Slater, J.N., ed. (July 1974). "Notes and News: Western's last "General"". Railway Magazine (London: IPC Transport Press Ltd) 120 (879): 361. ISSN 0033-8923.
  3. ↑ Mitchell & Smith 2013, map V
  4. ↑ Mitchell & Smith 2013, fig. 10
  5. ↑ "Wrexham on new Arriva Trains Wales north-south link". BBC News. 10 March 2011.
  6. ↑ GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Table 101
  7. ↑ GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Tables 75 & 131
  8. 1 2 3 Yonge, John (March 2005) [1990]. Jacobs, Gerald, ed. Railway Track Diagrams 4: Midlands & North West (2nd ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. map 22D. ISBN 0-9549866-0-1.
  9. ↑ "£46m rail improvement scheme for Wrexham lines". North Wales Daily Post. Trinity Mirror Merseyside. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "Chancellor announces £10.4m to redevelop Halton Curve rail line". Runcorn & Widnes Weekly News. 3 July 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-03.
  11. ↑ "Halton Curve to be reinstated with £10.4m upgrade". Chester Chronicle. 3 July 2014.

Sources

External links

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Coordinates: 53°03′03″N 3°00′05″W / 53.05083°N 3.00139°W / 53.05083; -3.00139

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