Gobowen railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gobowen railway station is a railway station serving the village of Gobowen, Shropshire, England (as well as the nearby town of Oswestry). It is situated on the Shrewsbury to Chester Line, and all services are operated by Arriva Trains Wales.
Trains operate approximately hourly between Shrewsbury and Chester, via Wrexham General. Many trains start from Birmingham New Street, although some start from Cardiff Central and continue beyond Chester to Holyhead along the North Wales Coast Line.
[edit] Buildings
The station has two platforms:
- Platform 1 - For services to the south, including Shrewsbury, Cardiff and Birmingham
- Platform 2 - For services to the north, including Holyhead, Wrexham and Chester
The station buildings at Gobowen are exceptionally fine, and listed Grade II. They were built in 1846 by the Shrewsbury and Chester railway in an notable Florentine (or Italianate) style with white stucco facing and a small turret. The awnings and the footbridge were added later by the Great Western Railway (the footbridge was demolished in 1987). Although a very small village, Gobowen was the junction station for the much larger regional town of Oswestry some three miles away. When rail services to Oswestry ceased, Gobowen was retained as the railhead for the surrounding area. There is a scheme in progress to open this branch as a heritage railway.
Today, the main building which was renovated in 2005 is used as small business space. The booking office is now located in the waiting room on the southbound platform. Unusually, it is not operated directly by the local train operating company, Arriva Trains Wales, but by an independent travel agent, Severn-Dee Travel.
[edit] Future
A new company, the Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway, has proposed new services to call at this station, starting from summer 2007.
[edit] External links
- Train times and station information for Gobowen railway station from National Rail
- Map and aerial photo of Gobowen railway station from Multimap.com
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shrewsbury | Arriva Trains Wales Shrewsbury to Chester Line |
Chirk | ||
| Shrewsbury | Wrexham & Shropshire Proposed |
Chirk | ||
| UK railway stations |
|---|
