The Chester & Connah's Quay Railway ran from
Chester Northgate in
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
to
Shotton, Flintshire
Shotton is a town and community in Flintshire, Wales, within the Deeside conurbation along the River Dee, joined with Connah's Quay, near the border with England. It is located 5 miles (8 km) west of Chester and can be reached by road fr ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. It was in use for its full length from 1890 to 1992.
At Dee Marsh Junction it connected with the
North Wales and Liverpool Railway
The North Wales and Liverpool Railway (NWLR), was the name given to the joint committee formed to construct a railway between Bidston, on the Wirral Railway and Hawarden on the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway's (MSLR) Chester & Co ...
. It then crossed the
River Dee by means of
Hawarden Bridge before joining the
Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway at
Shotton.
The line today
Open portion
The only section of the Chester & Connah's Quay Railway which remains in use is between Dee Marsh Junction and Shotton, forming part of the
Borderlands Line.
Closed portion
The rest of the line closed to passenger trains in 1968, but remained open to freight trains until 1992. Even though
steelmaking operations at the
British Steel plant at
Shotton ceased in March 1980, freight continued to use the
double-tracked line until 20 April 1984. Goods services resumed on a
single-track line on 31 August 1986 before final closure in June 1992.
This was precipitated by the closure of
Ravenscraig steelworks
The Ravenscraig steelworks, operated by Colvilles and from 1967 by British Steel Corporation, consisted of an integrated iron and steel works and a hot strip steel mill. They were located in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Motherwell ...
in
Motherwell
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...
, Scotland, as freight trains using the line ran between Ravenscraig and Shotton
rolling mill.
Cycle path
Since the line between Chester and Dee Marsh closed, the track has been lifted and the route is now a cycle path, forming part of
Route 5 of the
National Cycle Network.
Junction maps
References
External links
Images of the line in its final operating daysNational Cycle NetworkChester to Connah's Quay
on the Chester & Connah's Quay Railway
along the railway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chester And Connah's Quay Railway
Great Central Railway
Closed railway lines in North West England
Early British railway companies
Railway lines opened in 1890
Standard gauge railways in England
Early Welsh railway companies