| Wrexham General | |
|---|---|
| Wrecsam Cyffredinol | |
| Wrexham General railway station | |
| Location | |
| Place | Wrexham |
| Local authority | Wrexham County Borough |
| Grid reference | SJ329508 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | WRX |
| Managed by | Arriva Trains Wales |
| Number of platforms | 6 (2 not usually used) |
| Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries |
|
| Annual rail passenger usage | |
| 2004/05 * | 0.492 million |
| 2005/06 * | 0.501 million |
| 2006/07 * | 0.536 million |
| 2007/08 * | 0.588 million |
| 2008/09 * | 0.665 million |
| 2009/10 * | 0.684 million |
| History | |
| Opened 1846 Rebuilt 1912 Cafe and new Platforms opened 2008 |
|
| 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 estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Wrexham General from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year. | |
Wrexham General railway station (Welsh: Wrecsam Cyffredinol) is a main line railway station and the main railway station serving Wrexham, north-east Wales. It is currently operated by Arriva Trains Wales, but services are also provided by Virgin Trains who operate a service to London Euston. Until January 2011 Wrexham & Shropshire also operated from here to London Marylebone.
The station was first opened in 1846, later becoming part of the GWR network and expanded in 1912. It is one of three railway stations in the central area of the town, one now part of General, named Wrexham Exchange, 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. It is also a major hub for inter-city services in North Wales.
Until the early 1980s what is now platform 4 of Wrexham General, serving the Wrexham Central - Bidston service, was a separate station: Wrexham Exchange.
Contents |
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 blackened sandstone buildings, and platform retiling along all main platforms. The out of use bay platform saw no improvements, and retained its 1970s lighting until 2008 when refurbished by the Welsh Assembly Government.
The suffix "General" was used by the Great Western Railway, and later the Western Region of British Railways to differentiate their main stations from others in the area which belonged to other companies. Following the Beeching axe, Wrexham General remains the only "General" station on the National Rail network, whereas other "General" stations (including Shrewsbury General and Chester General, which were simply re-named "Shrewsbury" and "Chester" respectively), lost the suffix or (like Cardiff General, the last station to lose the "General" suffix) were re-dubbed as "Central" stations. Because of the continued presence of two stations serving Wrexham, the other being titled Wrexham Central, the "General" suffix was retained.[1]
Until 1967 Wrexham General was served by GWR, latterly BR Western Region, express services between London Paddington and Birkenhead Woodside which was withdrawn upon the electrification of the West Coast Main Line.
Now platform four of Wrexham General, Wrexham Exchange was originally a separate railway station opened in May 1866 for the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway (WMCQR). By the time WMCQR had been bought by the Great Central Railway, the line was a through station connecting to the Cambrian Railways Wrexham Central Railway Station. The station changed hands again in 1921 during the Railways Act 1921, to the London and North Eastern Railway, as one of their few stations in Wales.
The station is currently undergoing a renaissance as a number of new services have been introduced. Since 2005 the station has been a stop of the two hourly Cardiff to Holyhead Arriva Trains Wales service. The two hourly Birmingham New Street service has also been extended to Birmingham International and Holyhead.
As of January 2011 the station provides direct services to London on weekdays provided by Virgin Trains (via Chester and Crewe).
Wrexham and Shropshire's operational headquarters and train depot were located in the station.
Planning permission has been granted for further development at the station, to include a new cafe and taxi rank.
It was announced in November 2008 that the Welsh Assembly Government would fund work on rail infrastructure between Wrexham and Chester; this would allow increased express services from north to south Wales on this congested section of the line. This might see the currently single track section to Saltney Junction restored to double track operation, however the results of recent studies into the improvements has revealed a double track solution would be too costly as two structures crossing the A483 road are built to single track standard, and dynamic loops are more realistic.[2]
In June 2011, construction began on the increased access for disabled people to platform four. The existing footbridge between platforms three and four was removed in preparation for the construction of a new footbridge which would include an elevator on Platform four. This will negate the use of the road bridge for disabled access to platform four. The new bridge will be built to modern standards but in a style sympathising with the rest of the station design.
Wrexham General Station is used for a number of main line services travelling via Wrexham. For example the Holyhead to Cardiff route, the Wrexham to London route (via Chester, the west coast main line) and the Holyhead to Birmingham route.
Inter-city services operate to Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester and London.
Trains run hourly to Bidston, Holyhead (via Chester) and Shrewsbury and two-hourly to Birmingham and Cardiff and on weekdays and Saturdays. There is a two-hourly service on Sundays to Chester and Birmingham and six services to Bidston.
This service ended on Friday 28 January 2011 due to a continuing loss made by the company. At their peak Wrexham & Shropshire ran five trains per day each way Monday to Saturday and three on Sundays.
It is unclear whether further services will be introduced now the open-access operator Wrexham and Shropshire has withdrawn services.
Arriva Trains Wales
Virgin Trains (Mon-Fri only)
In the evenings and sundays there is a slightly different pattern of service, all operated by Arriva Trains Wales
Wrexham General comprises six 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, once opposite and on the same route as platform 4, became disused when the line was singled, however in 2008 it has been re-surfaced and is now a private parking space.
Merseyrail are currently in negotiations with network rail and a number of other companies to upgrade the Halton curve, a secton of the Liverpool branch of the West Coast Mainline which connects to Chester, in order to start direct services to Liverpool Lime Street via Chester and Runcorn.
On 28 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 utilised the depot until services to London Marylebone stopped in January 2011.
From February 2009 a cafe has opened on the station in formerly empty office space.