The Shrewsbury–Chester line ( cy, Llinell Amwythig i Gaer) is a
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
line between
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 ...
and
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
in
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 ...
, with the line passing through
Wrexham County Borough
Wrexham County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Wrecsam) is a county borough, with city status, in the north-east of Wales. It borders England to the east and south-east, Powys to the south-west, Denbighshire to the west and Flintshire to the nort ...
in
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 ...
. Passenger train services are operated by
Transport for Wales Rail
Transport for Wales Rail Limited, branded as Transport for Wales and TfW Rail ( and ), is a Welsh publicly owned train operating company, a subsidiary of Transport for Wales (TfW), a Welsh Government-owned company. It commenced operations of t ...
between the northern terminal of
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 ...
and
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
in the south as part of the
Wales & Borders franchise
, image_filename =
, image_size =
, caption =
, nameforarea = service area
, regions = Wales, North West England, the West Midlands, and Gloucestershire.
, operator = Transport for Wales Rail
, dates = 14 O ...
. Some additional services, starting part way along the line to
London Euston
Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city railw ...
via Chester are operated by
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise.
During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...
. The line was built in 1846 by the
Shrewsbury and Chester Railway
The North Wales Mineral Railway was formed to carry coal and ironstone from the mineral-bearing area around Wrexham to the River Dee wharves. It was extended to run from Shrewsbury and formed part of a main line trunk route, under the title ...
, with the engineer for the line being
Henry Robertson
Henry Robertson (11 June 1816 – 22 March 1888) was a Scottish mining engineer and prolific railway builder, industrialist and Liberal Party politician. He was head of Brymbo Steelworks, Wrexham. He was co-founder of Beyer-Peacock, with Charl ...
, a partner in locomotive builders
Beyer Peacock
Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson, it traded from 1854 until 1966. The company exported locomotives, a ...
, while the contractor was
Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey (7 November 18058 December 1870) was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about o ...
in partnership with William Mackenzie and
Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE FRSA Doctor of Civil Law, DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railway ...
. The line is part of
Transport for Wales
Transport for Wales (TfW; cy, Trafnidiaeth Cymru; cy, TrC, label=none) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consi ...
'
North Wales Metro
The North Wales Metro (; originally the North East Wales Metro; ) is a rail and bus transport improvement programme in north Wales. Styled as a "Metro", it is conceptually a multi-modal system with a combination of bus, heavy rail, and light rail ...
improvement programme.
The line has six stations, equally distributed between England and Wales. There are proposals to open stations on the line in
Baschurch
Baschurch is a large village and civil parish in Shropshire, England.
It lies in North Shropshire, north-west of Shrewsbury. The village has a population of 2,503 as of the 2011 census. The village has strong links to Shrewsbury to the south-e ...
(by re-opening
Baschurch railway station)
and in the
north
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
and
south
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
of
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
.
The line was formerly
double-track
A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track.
Overview
In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most li ...
for its entire length, however, of the line between
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
and
Saltney Junction
Saltney was a minor railway station located on the Great Western Railway's Paddington to Birkenhead line a few miles west of Chester, England. Although the station is now closed, the route is still open today as part of the Shrewsbury to Chest ...
was reduced to a
single-track in the 1980s.
This was partly reversed in 2017, with the re-doubling of of the single-track section between Saltney Junction to
Rossett Junction into double-track. The infrastructural work was carried out by
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
and funded by the
Welsh Government
The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...
.
The re-doubling was completed in April 2017, with the project described to be an effort to increase services between Wrexham and Chester and improving certain sections of line to allow trains to run at 90 mph. The remaining of track between
Rossett Junction and just north of remains single-track. The line used to extend to Chester directly, however the section of track between Saltney Junction and Chester railway station was reduced from two double-tracks, sharing with the
North Wales Coast Line
The North Wales Coast Line ( cy, Llinell Arfordir Gogledd Cymru), also known as the North Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell Gogledd Cymru or cy, label=none, Prif Linell y Gogledd), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire, ...
, to a single double-track now considered only part of the North Wales Coast Line by Network Rail.
History
Construction
The
North Wales Mineral Railway
The North Wales Mineral Railway was constructed in Wales in 1844, during the early years of the Railway Mania. It was originally intended to link Chester via Wrexham to the industrial areas around Ruabon; there were branches to Brymbo and Minera ...
, connecting
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 ...
via
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
to
Ruabon
Ruabon ( cy, Rhiwabon ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The name comes from ''Rhiw Fabon'', ''rhiw'' being the Welsh word for "slope" or "hillside" and ''Fabon'' being a mutation from St Mabon, the original church ...
, had been constructed from 1844 to take advantage of mineral rights. However, realising that it offered connection opportunities between the
Port of Liverpool
The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed Dock (maritime), dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, Merseyside, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Great Float, Birkenhead Docks between ...
and the industrialised Midlands, the railway applied to extend to Shrewsbury. This was refused by Parliament.
Forming an independent group of similar investors, a
Private Act of Parliament
Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. This is unlike a private bill which is a proposal for a law affecting only a single p ...
authorising the construction of the Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Chester Junction Railway passed in 1845. Initially the proposal was to build a completely new line from a junction south east of , it would cross the River Dee near
Farndon completely by-passing the North Wales Mineral Railway between Wrexham and Chester. The route would then go through
Overton-on-Dee
Overton ( cy, Owrtyn) or Overton-on-Dee is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It is situated close to the Welsh-English border on the edge of an escarpment that winds its way around the course of the River Dee, from whic ...
across the Dee again near Chirk before reaching Oswestry and then heading to Shrewsbury. However, in July 1846, the North Wales Mineral Railway merged with the Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Chester Junction Railway to form the
Shrewsbury and Chester Railway
The North Wales Mineral Railway was formed to carry coal and ironstone from the mineral-bearing area around Wrexham to the River Dee wharves. It was extended to run from Shrewsbury and formed part of a main line trunk route, under the title ...
.
The formation of the new company immediately led to a revision of the plans. Construction of a new line and junction south east from Chester was abandoned. The new company would only need to build a line between Shrewsbury and the North Wales Mineral line at Wrexham. Likewise when construction was completed by 1848, the final route also bypassed
Oswestry
Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads.
The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...
(one of the scheme's original destinations). Instead the town would be served by a branch line between a halt in the town and .
On 24 May 1847, five passengers were killed and many were injured in the
Dee Bridge disaster. A
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 ...
to
Ruabon
Ruabon ( cy, Rhiwabon ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The name comes from ''Rhiw Fabon'', ''rhiw'' being the Welsh word for "slope" or "hillside" and ''Fabon'' being a mutation from St Mabon, the original church ...
train fell into the
River Dee, following the collapse of the Dee Railway bridge on the outskirts of Chester. A girder, which had cracked in the middle, gave way as the train crossed. The engine and tender managed to reach the other side of the bridge but the carriages crashed into the river. The bridge was engineered by
Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE FRSA Doctor of Civil Law, DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railway ...
despite warnings from civil engineer,
William Fairbairn
Sir William Fairbairn, 1st Baronet of Ardwick (19 February 1789 – 18 August 1874) was a Scottish civil engineer, structural engineer
Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems ...
. He had warned Stephenson about the problems using cast iron girders only a few months before construction of the bridge at a meeting at the
Institution of Civil Engineers
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...
in London, but his advice was ignored. A
Royal Commission following this accident led to a re-evaluation of the use of cast-iron in railway bridges. Many new bridges had to be reinforced or rebuilt.
Mergers and nationalisation
In 1849 the larger
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom.
In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...
began aggressively trying to take business from the line in order to put it into bankruptcy. By 1854, the pressure forced the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway to agree to becoming part of the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
. The route would become part of the GWR's main line from
London Paddington
Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services pro ...
to
Birkenhead Woodside.
In 1948, following
nationalisation
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
of UK's rail system, the former GWR Shrewsbury–Chester line became part of the
Western Region of
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
. It was later transferred to BR's
London Midland Region
The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irelan ...
in 1963.
In the 1960s many of the passenger stations serving smaller communities along the line were closed. The track between Wrexham and Saltney Junction was also reduced from a double to a single line in 1983. There was a large reduction in freight traffic on the route as a result of the mineral industries around Wrexham closing in stages beginning with the
Wrexham and Minera Railway
The Wrexham and Minera Railway or Wrexham and Minera Branch was a railway line in North Wales between the city of Wrexham, the village of Brymbo where it served the Brymbo Steelworks, and the lead mines and limeworks at Minera. A further bran ...
in 1952 and then the
Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway
The Buckley Railway was opened from Buckley to a connection with the Chester to Holyhead main line on 7 June 1862, to convey coal and finished brickworks products from the Buckley area. Numerous short tramroads had existed in the area from the 1 ...
in 1954 and the last section through
Croes Newydd
Croes Newydd was a large steam locomotive shed, marshalling yard and junction in Wrexham, in Wales.
History
The Wrexham and Minera Railway was opened on 22 May 1862, with little ceremony except a note from the Traffic Manager of the Great We ...
closed in 1982.
Services
Passenger
Passenger trains along the line are operated by
Transport for Wales
Transport for Wales (TfW; cy, Trafnidiaeth Cymru; cy, TrC, label=none) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consi ...
and
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise.
During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...
, who operate one train per day on weekdays each way between Wrexham General and London Euston, via Chester.
At Chester, there are connections towards and (on the
North Wales Coast Line
The North Wales Coast Line ( cy, Llinell Arfordir Gogledd Cymru), also known as the North Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell Gogledd Cymru or cy, label=none, Prif Linell y Gogledd), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire, ...
), towards
Manchester Piccadilly
Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city ...
via (on the
Chester to Manchester Line
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 ...
), towards Manchester Piccadilly via (on the
Mid-Cheshire Line) and towards (on
Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a commuter rail network serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line and Wirral Line, which are dedicated electri ...
's
Wirral line
The Wirral line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern line.
The Wirral line connects Liverpool to the Wirral Peninsula via the Mersey Railway Tunnel, with b ...
).
At Wrexham, there are connections towards
Liverpool Central
Liverpool Central railway station in Liverpool, England, forms a central hub of the Merseyrail network, being on both the Northern Line and the Wirral Line. The station is located underground on two levels, below the site of a former mainline ...
(change at
Bidston
Bidston is a village, a parish and a suburb of Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, in the modern county of Merseyside. The area is a mixture of the well-preserved Bidston Village, Bidston Hill, a modern housing estate, and the Bidston Moss nat ...
) via the
Borderlands line) and London via Chester and
Crewe
Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...
for the
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
. Wrexham General also acts as a terminus for many services travelling part of the line.
At Shrewsbury, connections are provided towards via and and Manchester via Crewe (via the
Welsh Marches line), towards and (on the
Cambrian line
The Cambrian Line ( cy, Llinell y Cambrian), also known as the Cambrian Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell y Cambrian) and Cambrian Coast Line ( cy, Llinell Arfordir y Cambrian), is a railway line that runs from Shrewsbury, England, westwards to Aber ...
), towards (via the
Heart of Wales line
The Heart of Wales line ( cy, Llinell Calon Cymru) is a railway line running from Craven Arms in Shropshire to Llanelli in southwest Wales. It serves a number of rural centres, including the nineteenth-century spa towns Llandrindod Wells, Llanga ...
) and towards Birmingham New Street.
Former
In December 2005, Arriva Trains Wales introduced a new timetable to the line, providing an hourly service between Shrewsbury and Chester, Monday to Saturday, from early morning until around midnight (involving eight additional trains serving Gobowen). This improved service includes a through train every two hours between Holyhead and Cardiff throughout most of the day.
On 28 April 2008,
Wrexham & Shropshire
Wrexham & Shropshire (legally ''Wrexham, Shropshire & Marylebone Railway Company Limited'') was an open access operator that provided passenger rail services in the United Kingdom. Services between Wrexham and London Marylebone operated from A ...
began services along the section of line between Wrexham General and , continuing via to . The service ceased on 28 January 2011, as the operator struggled to gain enough passengers to sustain its service.
In January 2020, pre-
COVID
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
, the
Office of the Rail Regulator
The Rail Regulator was a statutory office, created with effect from 1 December 1993 by section 1 of the Railways Act 1993, for the independent economic regulation of the British railway industry.
The office was abolished from 4 July 2004, using ...
revealed stations such as Chester, Wrexham General, Ruabon and Chirk saw their passenger numbers increase between 5.6% (Chirk) and 8% (Chester) during the 2018/2019 period.
Freight
Freight along the line is half transitory and half generated on the line. Padeswood Hall Cement works at
Penyffordd
Penyffordd is a village, community and electoral ward in Flintshire, Wales, situated to the south east of Buckley and to the west of Chester. The name is derived from the Welsh ''Pen Y Ffordd'' – roughly translated as "the highest or furthe ...
does not send any of its finished product out by rail, but it does source its coal via Railfreight, mostly just once a week. Most often these trains are from Scotland and they run-round in
Croes Newydd Loop south of Wrexham General station.
DB Schenker haul two trainloads of Steel Coil per day from either
Llanwern
Llanwern is a community in the eastern part of the City of Newport, South East Wales. Llanwern is bounded by the M4 and Langstone to the north, Ringland, Lliswerry and the River Usk to the west, the River Severn to the south and the city bou ...
or
Port Talbot Steelworks
Port Talbot Steelworks is an integrated steel production plant in Port Talbot, West Glamorgan, Wales, capable of producing nearly 5 million tonnes of steel slab per annum. This makes it the larger of the two major steel plants in the UK and one o ...
to
Shotton steelworks on Deeside. The return empties are twice daily too.
Kronospan
Kronospan is an Austrian-founded, Cyprus-based, international company that manufactures and distributes wood-based panels which are used in applications including flooring, furniture and timber-framed houses.
The company manufactures particleboar ...
's board factory at
Chirk
Chirk ( cy, Y Waun) is a town and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, south of Wrexham, between it and Oswestry. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 4,468. Historically in the traditional county of Denbighshire, and later Clwy ...
has inward flows of timber from Carlisle, Baglan Bay, Teignbridge and Ribblehead. Some of the traffic, especially from Ribblehead is seasonal and sporadic. All inbound flows must enter the works heading south and those leaving must head south too. This is because there is no cross over or run-round facility in the works sidings.
Community rail
The line is designated as a
community rail
Community rail in Britain is the support of railway lines and stations by local organisations, usually through community rail partnerships (CRPs) comprising railway operators, local councils, and other community organisations, and rail user group ...
partnership, as the Chester Shrewsbury Community Rail Partnership. It was awarded the status in November 2019 by the Welsh Government.
Wrexham to Chester service improvements
![Shrewsbury to Chester Line at Rhosrobin, Wrexham (1)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Shrewsbury_to_Chester_Line_at_Rhosrobin%2C_Wrexham_%281%29.JPG)
In March 2012, the
National Assembly for Wales
The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English language, English and () in Welsh language, Welsh, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes ...
announced that sections of the line would be part of a £46-million improvement scheme. This included redoubling the track between Wrexham and Chester (
Rossett Junction and
Saltney Junction
Saltney was a minor railway station located on the Great Western Railway's Paddington to Birkenhead line a few miles west of Chester, England. Although the station is now closed, the route is still open today as part of the Shrewsbury to Chest ...
)
and upgrading certain sections of line to allow trains to run at 90 mph. Work started on this project in June 2014 and was scheduled for completion in Spring 2015, but it was delayed until April 2017 by Network Rail due to the need for signalling cables to be replaced in addition to the track, signal and level crossing upgrades already installed. It is hoped this will create increased traffic between Wrexham and Chester and encourage new regular services to London and other new destinations.
In May 2019, two daily services between Wrexham General and Liverpool Lime Street via Chester and
Runcorn
Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...
were introduced by Transport for Wales, following the reinstatement of services on the
Halton Curve
Halton Curve (now formally known as the Frodsham Single Line) is a short bi-directional railway line which links the Chester–Warrington line to the Weaver Junction–Liverpool line within the borough of Halton, Cheshire. The route, which is ...
.
Future developments
The Chester to Shrewsbury Rail Partnership aims to promote travel along the line and to seek improvements to services and facilities. It is a member of the
Community Rail Network.
In 2006, the Chester to Shrewsbury Rail Partnership commissioned the Scott Wilson Report to assess the feasibility of certain enhancements to the service. These include the re-opening of stations at
Rossett
Rossett ( cy, Yr Orsedd ) is a village, community and electoral ward in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. Rossett is served by the A483 road.
At the time of the 2001 census, Rossett community (including Rossett itself and the villages of Bur ...
and
Johnstown & Hafod and the opening of a new station at
Lache
The Lache ( ; sometimes simply Lache) is a housing estate in the city of Chester, in Cheshire, United Kingdom, with a population of around 10,000. It is located approximately southwest of the ancient city, with good local transport links en ...
.
In 2021, Transport for Wales released their Metro Development Plan published in March 2021, and their Future Developments plan for the North Wales Metro published in September 2021.
The accompanying maps for the latter (as well as mentions in the former), were used to represent Transport for Wales' long-term ambitions in the area, which includes two new proposed stations on the Welsh sections of the line. A proposed station located somewhat north of Wrexham, near
Gresford
Gresford (; cy, Gresffordd ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales.
According to the 2001 Census, the population of the community, which also includes the village of Marford, was 5,334, reducing to 5,010 at the 2011 cens ...
, termed "
Wrexham North", and another station located south of Wrexham near
Johnstown, termed "
Wrexham South". These longer-term plans (in comparison to the 2029 plans released on the same day), do not include a proposed dates for the proposed stations, furthermore funding for the stations are the responsibility of the
UK Government
ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd
, image = HM Government logo.svg
, image_size = 220px
, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
, image_size2 = 180px
, caption = Royal Arms
, date_es ...
's
Department for Transport
The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...
.
In November 2021, a housing development in Baschurch set land aside for a potential railway station on site, although funding for a station has not yet been secured.
See also
Map of places on 'Shrewsbury to Chester Line' compiled from this article
References
External links
Chester to Shrewsbury Rail Partnership
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shrewsbury-Chester line
Rail transport in Shropshire
Rail transport in Cheshire
Railway lines in Wales
Railway lines in the West Midlands (region)
Transport in Wrexham County Borough
Shrewsbury and Atcham
Railway lines opened in 1846
Railway lines in North West England
Standard gauge railways in Wales
Standard gauge railways in England
Community railway lines in Wales
Community railway lines in England
1846 establishments in the United Kingdom