Oakengates railway station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oakengates

Location

Place

Oakengates

Local authority

Telford and Wrekin

Operations

Managed by

London Midland

Platforms in use

Annual Rail Passenger Usage

2004/05 *

10,158

2005/06 *

12,409

History

Key dates

Opened 1849

National Rail - UK railway stations

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Oakengates from Office of Rail Regulation statistics.

UK Railways Portal

Oakengates railway station serves the town of Oakengates, part of the new town of Telford, England. It lies on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton Line and has two platforms. About half of the passenger trains running along the line call at the station, the others pass straight through.

Between Oakengates and Telford Central is the Oakengates Tunnel.

[edit] Oakengates Tunnel

This was a tunnel which represented a major issue in the construction of the railway. It delayed the project by 3 years, between 1846 and 1849. Details of the difficulties are sketchy. It was originally built for broad gauge railways.

This tunnel is the longest on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton line and the longest of the three railway tunnels presently in use in Shropshire. It stretches for 471 yards.

The tunnel passed under the summit level of the Shropshire Canal and was the scene of a disaster in 1855, when a breach from the canal into the tunnel occurred. The entire summit level emptied into the tunnel, causing flooding in the town, although there were no reports of any personal injury.^[1]