Buckley railway station

Buckley railway station serves the town of Buckley in Flintshire, Wales. The station is 8½ miles (14 km) north of Wrexham Central on the Borderlands Line.

Buckley Welsh: Bwcle
Location	Buckley, Flintshire Wales
Coordinates	53.163°N 3.056°W
Grid reference	SJ295633
Managed by	Transport for Wales
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	BCK
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Original company	Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Central Railway
Key dates
31 March 1890[1]	Opened as Buckley Junction
6 May 1974[1]	Renamed
Passengers
2015/16	48,430
2016/17	47,776
2017/18	41,008
2018/19	40,504
2019/20	41,874
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station was known as Buckley Junction until 6 May 1974, when it became Buckley.[2] It is the nearest station to Mold, Flintshire.

History

The station in 1961

The first railway in the area was the Buckley Railway, a short (5 mile/8 km long) freight branch linking the town with the River Dee at Connah's Quay. The Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway arrived in 1866 from a terminus at Wrexham Exchange alongside the GWR's Wrexham General station and was linked into the Buckley Railway from the outset, eventually taking it over in 1873. Passenger services from the south began soon afterwards, but not to the current station, which dates from 1890, when the "Hawarden Loop" line northwards to Shotton was opened.

Further construction by the Great Central Railway added links to Chester and to Bidston (the current route north) by 1896. The original Buckley Railway line down to the docks at Connah's Quay remained freight-only throughout its life, finally closing in 1965.[3] That left the current line at the station and ran via the original Buckley (Old) station (closed in 1890, and briefly reopened between 1893–95). Few traces of that route now remain.

The station became an unstaffed halt in 1969 and the substantial two-storey main building was subsequently sold off. It remains standing to this day and is now used as industrial premises.[4]

Facilities

The station has no ticket provision, so these must be purchased in advance or on the train. Train running information can be obtained via CIS screens, timetable poster boards or a payphone on platform 2. Step-free access is available to both platforms; there is no footbridge at this station however, only a foot crossing that must be used with care.[5]

Services

The station is served by an hourly service Monday - Saturday (two-hourly in the evenings & bank holidays)[6] southbound to Wrexham Central and northbound to Bidston for connections to Birkenhead and Liverpool stations via the Wirral Line. Connections to Shrewsbury, Cardiff and Birmingham (and beyond) are available at Wrexham General and for the North Wales Coast line at Shotton. On Sundays, there is a train approximately every 90 minutes.

References

1. Butt 1995, p. 47.
2. Slater, J.N., ed. (July 1974). "Notes and News: Stations renamed by LMR". Railway Magazine. London: IPC Transport Press Ltd. 120 (879): 363. ISSN 0033-8923.
3. Disused Stations - The Buckley Railway www.disused-stations.org.uk; Retrieved 2013-08-05
4. View from the Train - Wrexham to Bidston The Borderlands Line; Retrieved 7 August 2017
5. Buckley station facilities National Rail Enquiries
6. Table 101 National Rail timetable, May 2017

Sources

• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2013). Wrexham to New Brighton. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 38-39, 42. ISBN 9781908174475. OCLC 859543196.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links

Media related to Buckley railway station at Wikimedia Commons

• Train times and station information for Buckley railway station from National Rail