Shrewsbury–Chester line

The Shrewsbury–Chester line, was built in 1846 by the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway. The engineer for the line was Henry Robertson, a partner in locomotive builders Beyer Peacock,[1] while the contractor was Thomas Brassey in partnership with William Mackenzie and Robert Stephenson.[2]

Shrewsbury–Chester line
Overview
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Shropshire Cheshire West Midlands Wrexham County Borough Shrewsbury and Atcham North West England North East Wales
Termini	Shrewsbury Chester
Stations	Gobowen, Chirk, Ruabon and Wrexham General
Service
Type	Heavy Rail
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	Transport for Wales, Avanti West Coast
Rolling stock	Class 150 Sprinter, Class 153 Super Sprinter, Class 158 Express Sprinter, Class 175 Coradia, Class 221 Super Voyager
History
Opened	1846
Technical
Line length	84.38 miles (135.80 km)
Number of tracks	Double track throughout.
Character	Main line, Commuter Rail, Freight
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed	50 mph (80 km/h), 70 mph (110 km/h), 90 mph or 140 km/h.

Shrewsbury–Chester line
Mid-Cheshire line to Northwich North Wales Coast Line to Crewe Chester–Warrington line to Warrington Bank Quay Chester Wirral line to Liverpool Central Roodee Viaduct over River Dee Saltney Junction North Wales Coast Line to Holyhead Saltney Balderton Pulford England Wales Rossett Gresford to Brymbo Steelworks Wheatsheaf Junction Rhosrobin Halt Borderlands line to Bidston Wrexham General Borderlands line to Wrexham Central MVB, WM&CQR & W&MR to Croes Newydd Yard Rhos Junction Rhos Branch Rhos closed 1855   Johnstown and Hafod Wynnville Halt Ponciau Branch Garden Lodge Junction Ruabon Llangollen Junction Ruabon–Barmouth line to Barmouth Rhosymedre Halt Cefn Whitehurst Halt Kronospan Chirk Chirk Wales England Trehowell Halt Weston Rhyn Gobowen former Cambrian Rlys to Oswestry   Whittington Low Level Rednal and West Felton Haughton Halt Stanwardine Halt Baschurch Oldwoods Halt Leaton Welsh Marches line to Crewe Shrewsbury River Severn Wolverhampton– Shrewsbury line Cambrian Line to Aberystwyth & Pwllheli Welsh Marches line to Hereford

The line runs between Shrewsbury to Chester in England. Of the remaining intermediate stations, Gobowen is in England but the rest are in Wales. Campaigns for both the re-opening of Baschurch Station and Lache Station (near the site of the old Saltney Station) are now under way.[3]

The line has recently been upgraded by reinstating a double track between Rossett (near Wrexham) and Chester[4] and improving certain sections of line to allow trains to run at 90 mph.[5][6]

History

Construction

The North Wales Mineral Railway, connecting Chester via Wrexham to Ruabon, had been constructed from 1844 to take advantage of mineral rights. However, realising that it offered connection opportunities between the Port of Liverpool and the industrialised Midlands, the railway applied to extend to Shrewsbury. This was refused by Parliament.

Forming an independent group of similar investors, a Private Act of Parliament authorising the construction of the Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Chester Junction Railway passed in 1845. Initially the proposal was to build a completely new line from a junction south east of Chester, it would cross the River Dee near Farndon completely by-passing the North Wales Mineral Railway between Wrexham and Chester. The route would then go through Overton-on-Dee across the Dee again near Chirk before reaching Oswestry and then heading to Shrewsbury. However, in July 1846, the North Wales Mineral Railway merged with the Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Chester Junction Railway to form the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway.[7]

The formation of the new company immediately led to a revision of the plans. Construction of a new line and junction south east from Chester was abandoned. The new company would only need to build a 30 mi (48 km) line between Shrewsbury and the North Wales Mineral line at Wrexham. Likewise when construction was completed by 1848, the final route also bypassed Oswestry (one of the scheme's original destinations). Instead the town would be served by a branch line between a halt in the town and Gobowen.

On 24 May 1847, five passengers were killed and many were injured in the Dee Bridge disaster. A Chester to Ruabon train fell 11 m (36 ft) into the River Dee, 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.[8] The bridge was engineered by Robert Stephenson despite warnings from civil engineer, William Fairbairn. 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 Engineers in London, but his advice was ignored. A Royal Commission 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.

Mergers and rationalisation

In 1849 the larger London and North Western Railway began aggressively trying to take business from the line in order to put it into bankruptcy. By 1854, the pressure forced the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway to agree to becoming part of the Great Western Railway. The route would become part of the GWR's main line from London Paddington to Birkenhead Woodside.[9]

In 1948, following nationalisation of UK's rail system, the former GWR Shrewsbury–Chester line became part of the Western Region of British Rail. It was later transferred to BR's London Midland Region in 1963.

In the 1960s many of the passenger stations serving smaller communities along the line were closed. The track between Wrexham and Saltney Junction was also reduced from a double to a single line in 1983. There was a large reduction in freight traffic on the route as a result of the mineral industries around Wrexham closing in stages beginning with the Wrexham and Minera Railway in 1952 and then the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway in 1954 and the last section through Croes Newydd closed in 1982.

Current operations

Expansion

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 saw passenger numbers double during 2003–2004 and increase by 30% since 1999.

On 28 April 2008, Wrexham & Shropshire began services along the section of line between Wrexham General and Shrewsbury, continuing via Wolverhampton to London Marylebone. The service ceased on 28 January 2011, as the operator struggled to gain enough passengers to make it a going concern.[10]

Passenger services

Passenger trains along the line are operated by Transport for Wales and Avanti West Coast, who operate one train per day on weekdays each way between Wrexham General and London Euston, via Chester.

At Chester, there are connections towards Crewe and Holyhead (on the North Wales Coast Line), towards Manchester Piccadilly via Warrington Bank Quay (on the Chester to Manchester Line), towards Manchester Piccadilly via Northwich (on the Mid-Cheshire Line) and towards Liverpool Lime Street (on Merseyrail's Wirral line).

At Wrexham, there are connections towards Liverpool Lime Street (change at Bidston) via The Borderlands line and London via the West Coast Main Line. Wrexham General also acts as a terminus for many services travelling part of the line.

At Shrewsbury, connections are provided towards Carmarthen via Hereford and Cardiff Central and Manchester via Crewe (via the Welsh Marches line), towards Aberystwyth and Pwllheli (on the Cambrian line), towards Swansea (via the Heart of Wales line) and towards Birmingham New Street.

Freight services

Freight along the line is half transitory and half generated on the line. Padeswood Hall Cement works at Penyfford does not send any of its finished product out by rail, but it does source its coal via Railfreight, mostly just once a week. Most often these trains are from Scotland and they run-round in Croes Newydd Loop south of Wrexham General station.

DB Schenker haul two trainloads of Steel Coil per day from either Llanwern or Port Talbot Steelworks to Shotton steelworks on Deeside. The return empties are twice daily too.

Kronospan's board factory at Chirk has inward flows of timber from Carlisle, Baglan Bay, Teignbridge and Ribblehead. Some of the traffic, especially from Ribblehead is seasonal and sporadic. All inbound flows must enter the works heading south and those leaving must head south too. This is because there is no cross over or run-round facility in the works sidings.[11][12]

Community rail

The line is designated as a community rail partnership.[13]

Wrexham to Chester service improvements

In March 2012 the Welsh Assembly announced that sections of the line would be part of a £46-million improvement scheme. This included redoubling the track between Wrexham and Chester (Rossett Junction and Saltney Junction)[14] and upgrading certain sections of line to allow trains to run at 90 mph. Work started on this project in June 2014 and was scheduled for completion in Spring 2015,[15] but it was delayed until April 2017 by Network Rail due to the need for signalling cables to be replaced in addition to the track, signal and level crossing upgrades already installed.[16][17]

It is hoped this will create increased traffic between Wrexham and Chester and encourage new regular services to London and other new destinations. For example, the line could carry an extended hourly Hull to Manchester Piccadilly TransPennine Express service because it could reach Wrexham via Chester. This would provide a direct passenger 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).[18]

May 2019 saw the introduction of two daily services between Wrexham General and Liverpool Lime Street via Chester and Runcorn following the reinstatement of services on the Halton Curve.[19][20]

Future developments

The Chester to Shrewsbury Rail Partnership aims to promote travel along the line and to seek improvements to services and facilities. It is a member of the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP).[21] In 2006, the Chester to Shrewsbury Rail Partnership commissioned the Scott Wilson Report to assess the feasibility of certain enhancements to the service.[22] These include the re-opening of stations at Rossett and Johnstown & Hafod and the opening of a new station at Lache.

See also

• Map of places on 'Shrewsbury to Chester Line' compiled from this article

References

1. Hills, R. L.; Patrick, D. (1982). Beyer, Peacock, locomotive builders to the world. Glossop: Transport Publishing Co. ISBN 0-903839-41-5.
2. Helps, Arthur The Life and Works of Mr Brassey, 1872 republished Nonsuch, 2006. p. 107 ISBN 1-84588-011-0
3. "Baschurch Station". Baschurch Station Group. Retrieved 24 December 2009.
4. "North/South Wales journey improvements". Network Rail. n.d. Archived from the original on 6 January 2017.
5. "Work on delayed rail upgrade between Wrexham and Chester to resume in March 2017" The Leader; Retrieved 13 January 2017
6. "Wrexham to Chester railway line upgrade finally complete after major delays". North Wales Daily Post. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
7. Hendry, R. Preston; Hendry, R. Powell (1992). Paddington to the Mersey. Oxford Publishing Company. p. 8. ISBN 9780860934424. OCLC 877729237.
8. Baughan, Peter E. (1980). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. 11: North and Mid Wales. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7850-3. OCLC 906364902.
9. "Time-line of the Early Railways in and around Shropshire". ShrewsburyRHT.org.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
10. "Wrexham-Shropshire-London direct rail link to end". BBC News. 26 January 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2019. In a statement, the firm said that despite having attempted to increase passenger numbers, it had determined that the business has no prospect of reaching profitability and providing a return on investment.
11. Bridge, Mike (2013). Railway Track Diagrams. Bradford On Avon: Trackmaps. pp. 22C. ISBN 978-0-9549866-7-4.
12. Rawlinson, Mark (2015). Freightmaster 79. Swindon: Freightmaster Publishing. pp. 75, 80.
13. "ACORP Summary map" (PDF). Association of Community Rail Partnerships. 28 July 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
14. Network Rail Wrexham-Chester Redoubling
15. "Work begins on £44m Wrexham to Chester railway upgrade".
16. "Work on delayed rail upgrade between Wrexham and Chester to resume in March 2017" The Leader; Retrieved 13 January 2017
17. "Wrexham to Chester railway line upgrade finally complete after major delays". North Wales Daily Post. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
18. "£46 million worth of improvements for Wrexham railway". North Wales Daily Post. 20 March 2012.
19. "Rail industry confirms new summer 2019 timetable". 7 March 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
20. "Halton Curve: Rail line links north Wales and Liverpool". BBC News. 20 May 2019.
21. http://www.chester2shrewsburyrail.co.uk/contact.html
22. http://www.chester2shrewsburyrail.co.uk/index.html

External links

• Chester to Shrewsbury Rail Partnership