Wrexham General railway station

Infobox UK station
name=Wrexham General
"Wrecsam Cyffredinol"


locale=Wrexham
manager=Arriva Trains Wales
borough=Wrexham County Borough
usage0405=0.391
usage0506=0.401
usage0607=0.436

gridref=SJ329508
platforms=6 in use
start=1846
Rebuilt 1912

Wrexham General railway station ( _cy. Wrecsam Cyffredinol) is the main railway station serving Wrexham, north-east Wales. It is currently operated by Arriva Trains Wales, but services are also provided by other operators including Wrexham & Shropshire. Virgin Trains will begin services from the station in late 2008. The station was first opened in 1846, later becoming part of the GWR network and expanded in 1912.

It is one of two railway stations in the central area of the town (the other being Wrexham Central). It is the main hub for inter-city services in the area, and as a result 77.7% of all rail journeys (2006/07) in Wrexham County Borough start or end at the station.

History

In 1846 the first steam trains began the Railway Age in Wrexham. The line was originally called The North Wales Mineral Railway This 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 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". This 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.

In 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. This prompted a massive refurbishing, including new canopies, a jetwash of the sandstone buildings, and platform retiling.

The station is currently undergoing a renaissance as a number of new services have been introduced. In 2005, Arriva Trains Wales announced a more frequent rail service to the town, coinciding with the bus to the station. Wrexham, as of 12 December 2005, is a stop on the Holyhead to Cardiff route, allowing a two-hourly train to Cardiff using Arriva's flagship North Wales-South Wales service. In 2008 two rail companies will begin new operations from the station to London, including Wrexham & Shropshire whose operational centre and depot will be located in the complex.

ervices

Arriva Trains Wales

* Borderlands Line from Wrexham Central to Bidston
* Cardiff Central-Holyhead including Newport, Chester and Bangor
* Birmingham New St.-Chester including Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury

Trains run hourly to Bidston, Chester & Shrewsbury and two-hourly to Birmingham, Cardiff and Holyhead on weekdays & Saturdays. There is a two-hourly service on Sundays to Chester & Birmingham and six services to Bidston.

Wrexham & Shropshire

* London Marylebone-Wrexham including Shrewsbury, Telford and Tame Bridge Parkway.

Five trains per day each way on weekdays, four on Saturdays and three on Sundays.

Layout

Wrexham General comprises 6 platforms. Two bay platforms at the southern end of Platform 1 have recently been refurbished after decades of disuse. These were used for trains to Barmouth via the Ruabon Barmouth line until the 1960s. They are now used for Wrexham and Shropshire services to London and overnight stabling of trains. 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 used to be on the same route, but was pulled down when the line was singled.

Infrastructure Improvements

On the 28th 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 will utilise the depot.

Gallery

External links

* [http://www.chester2shrewsburyrail.co.uk/ Chester to Shrewsbury Rail Partnership]

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