The Stafford–Shrewsbury line is a former railway line in England, which ran between

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

and

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, via Newport and

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, from 1849 to 1966. The

Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company The Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company was a Company in England, formed in 1846, which managed several canals and railways. It intended to convert a number of canals to railways, but was leased by the London and North Western Railway (LN ...

(SUR&CC) constructed and ran one of the few railways in England ever built by a canal company. The line served Newport and

stations. The SUR&CC were solely responsible for the section from Stafford to Wellington; but the building and operation of the 10.5 mile (17 km)-long Shrewsbury-to-Wellington section was shared with the

Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway The Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway was authorised in 1846. It agreed to joint construction with others of the costly Wolverhampton to Birmingham section, the so-called Stour Valley Line. This work was dominated by the hostile London and North ...

.Casserley, H. C. (1968). ''Britain's Joint Lines''. London: Ian Allan.

Takeover by LNWR

After the

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 LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...

(LNWR) takeover of the SUR&CC, the Shrewsbury and Wellington Railway was operated as a

Joint railway A joint railway is a railway operating under the control of more than one railway company. United Kingdom There are many examples of joint railways in the United Kingdom. These include: * Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (M&GN): Midland ...

by the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

and the LNWR. The Stafford to Shrewsbury Railway opened on 1 June 1849, and was 29.25 miles (47 km) in length. Awdry, Christopher (1990). ''Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies''. London: Guild Publishing. Pp 42, 102 & 103. The

leased the line from July 1847, before it was complete.

Closure

Passenger services on the Stafford to Wellington section ended on 7 September 1964. Goods services ceased between Stafford and Newport on 1 August 1966, and this branch from Wellington was cut back to Donnington on 22 November 1969. The last remaining stretch of track, from Wellington to Donnington, was lifted in 1991.

Restoration

A single-track stretch of the line, measuring approximately three kilometres in length, was reinstated in 2008 and 2009, linking

to the newly built

Telford International Railfreight Park Telford International Railfreight Park (known as TIRFP) is rail freight depot and construction development site located in Donnington to the north of Telford, on the former route of the Stafford–Shrewsbury line. The terminal was opened in 20 ...

. The Shrewsbury and Wellington section is still in use today by Transport for Wales, West Midlands Railway and Avanti West Coast. In June 2009, the

Association of Train Operating Companies The Rail Delivery Group Limited (RDG), previously the Association of Train Operating Companies, is the British rail industry membership body that brings together passenger and freight rail companies, Network Rail and High Speed 2. The RDG is a ...

, in its report '' Connecting Communities: Expanding Access to the Rail Network'', called for funding for the reopening of the line from Stafford to Wellington as part of a £500m scheme to open 33 stations on 14 lines closed in the

Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...

, including seven new parkway stations. In March 2011, a group called the Shropshire, Telford and the Marches Strategic Rail Group voted to lobby government to invest in reopening the line, which included building new stations serving Donnington in north Telford,

Newport, Shropshire Newport is a market town and Civil parishes in Shropshire, civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It lies north-east of Telford, west of Stafford, and is near the Shropshire-Staffordshire border. The 2001 Ce ...

and Gnosall, stating that it would be a quicker alternative for a direct link to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. the estimated cost of this would be roughly £230 million. In January 2019, Campaign for Better Transport released a report identifying the line which was listed as Priority 2 for reopening. Priority 2 is for those lines which require further development or a change in circumstances (such as housing developments). In January 2020 the UK Government announced a £500m fund to support the reopening of disused stations and lines closed under the Beeching cuts. The Shropshire, Telford and the Marches Strategic Rail Group and Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard called for the reopening of the Stafford-Shrewsbury Line to reconnect Donnington and Newport.

Takeover by LNWR

Closure

Restoration

References

Further reading