Gobowen railway station

Gobowen
for Oswestry National Rail
Location
Place Gobowen
Local authority Shropshire Council
Coordinates 52°53′37″N 3°02′14″W / 52.8935°N 3.0371°WCoordinates: 52°53′37″N 3°02′14″W / 52.8935°N 3.0371°W
Grid reference SJ303333
Operations
Station code GOB
Managed by Arriva Trains Wales
Number of platforms 2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05   0.141 million
2005/06 Increase 0.145 million
2006/07 Increase 0.165 million
2007/08 Increase 0.177 million
2008/09 Increase 0.187 million
2009/10 Increase 0.193 million
2010/11 Increase 0.205 million
2011/12 Decrease 0.205 million
2012/13 Increase 0.214 million
2013/14 Decrease 0.200 million
History
Original company Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Chester Junction Railway
Pre-grouping Great Western Railway
12 October 1848 Opened[1]
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Gobowen
for Oswestry from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal
Up fast freight passing in 1960

Gobowen railway station is a railway station on the Shrewsbury to Chester Line of the former Great Western Railway's London (Paddington) to Birkenhead via Birmingham (Snow Hill) line, serving the small town of Gobowen in Shropshire, England. It is the nearest station to the town of Oswestry.

Gobowen station is 17 3⁄4 miles (28.6 km) north west of Shrewsbury railway station.

History

The station building was designed by Thomas Mainwaring Penson,[2] and is a Grade II listed building.[3] The station was built between 1846 and 1848 by the Shrewsbury and Chester railway in a 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 in November 1966, Gobowen was retained as the railhead for the surrounding area. There is a scheme in progress to open this branch as a heritage railway.[4] Until 1967 Gobowen was served by the GWR, latterly BR Western Region, express services between London Paddington and Birkenhead Woodside.

Severn-Dee Travel was established in 1995 and managed by the late David Lloyd, who was also a keen campaigner for the restoration of a direct rail link between the area and London. Following his death, the Wrexham & Shropshire locomotive 67015 was named in his honour, and a replica nameplate from the locomotive can be seen in the booking office.

Future

Gobowen station may become in the near future the northern terminus of the proposed Cambrian Heritage Railways line to Llynclys, Pant and Blodwel via Oswestry. The coal yard at Gobowen is to be bought by Shropshire Council for railway related uses, including car parking for the station. If the plans are realised the station would have three platforms, one of which would be for the Heritage Railway.[5]

Facilities

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 train operating company but by an independent travel agent, Severn-Dee Travel.

The station has two platforms:

Services

As of January 2011, train services run on two routes;

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199. p.105
  2. ↑ Newman, John; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2006). Shropshire. The Buildings of England. New Haven; London: Yale University Press. pp. 272–273. ISBN 0-300-12083-4.
  3. ↑ Historic England. "Gobowen railway station (1054224)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
  4. ↑ "Oswestry Advertizer". 2008-07-15. p. 3.
  5. ↑

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gobowen railway station.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Shrewsbury   Arriva Trains Wales
Shrewsbury to Wrexham General Line		   Chirk
Historical railways
Whittington Low Level   Great Western Railway
Shrewsbury to Chester Line		   Weston Rhyn