Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line

Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line
Overview
Locale	Shropshire Wolverhampton Staffordshire Shrewsbury and Atcham West Midlands (region) Telford and Wrekin
Operation
Owner	Network Rail
Technical
Track gauge	Standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)

Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line

Legend Welsh Marches Line Shrewsbury to Chester Line Shrewsbury Welsh Marches Line Upton Magna Walcot Admaston Nantwich and Market Drayton Railway Wellington Stafford to Shrewsbury Line Wellington to Craven Arms Railway Ironbridge Power Station Severn Valley Railway Coalbrookdale Green Bank Halt Lightmoor Wellington to Craven Arms Railway New Hadley Halt Oakengates Coalport Branch Line Madeley Salop Telford Central Shifnal Cosford Albrighton Codsall Bilbrook Wombourne Branch Line Oxley Depot Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line Dunstall Park Victoria Basin Wolverhampton (High Level) Wolverhampton Low Level Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Line Midland Railway Goods Depot Wolverhampton and Walsall Railway Walsall to Wolverhampton Line

The Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line is the railway line from Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury via Wellington; it was originally built by the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway. The line is double track throughout, with rarely used relief sidings at Cosford and 4 tracks through Wellington station. The electrification from Stafford Road Junction to Oxley, is provided solely to enable electric stock to access Oxley depot and is therefore constructed as a "tram wire" suitable for low speeds only.

Signalling is centred at Madeley Junction. Towards Wolverhampton, the West Midlands Signalling Centre, Oxley Workstation, takes over (previously Oxley signal box until it closed on Saturday 27 November 2010 under the West Midlands Resignalling scheme) and towards Shrewsbury, Abbey Foregate signal box.

Route

The towns and villages served by the route are listed below, East to West.

• Wolverhampton (City of Wolverhampton) - 6 platforms
• Bilbrook (Staffordshire) - 2 platforms
• Codsall (Staffordshire) - 2 platforms
• Albrighton (Shropshire) - 2 platforms
• Cosford (Shropshire) - 2 platforms
• Shifnal (Shropshire) - 2 platforms
• Telford Central (Telford and Wrekin) - 2 platforms
• Oakengates (Telford and Wrekin) - 2 platforms
• Wellington (Telford and Wrekin) - 3 platforms
• Shrewsbury (Shropshire) - 5 platforms (numbered 3 to 7)

Passenger services

Arriva Trains Wales and London Midland operate passenger trains on this line. Westbound, some trains go beyond Shrewsbury to Chester, Holyhead, Aberystwyth and Wrexham while eastbound, services continue beyond Wolverhampton to terminate at Birmingham New Street or Birmingham International.

Sundays

Arriva Trains Wales in recent times have be known to have:

• 14tpd (trains per day) to Birmingham International via Birmingham New Street.

• 6tpd to Wolverhampton.

There are no London Midland services in operation on this line on Sundays.

Freight

The Coalbrookdale line, which serves Ironbridge Power Station to the south of Telford near Ironbridge, joins the Wolverhampton-Shrewsbury Line at Madeley Junction, which is between the Telford Central and Shifnal stations. Coal trains (EWS and Fastline) use the route, supplying the power station.

Telford Railfreight Depot

In 2008 the former Wellington to Stafford line was rebuilt as far as Donnington, for freight use. Telford International Railfreight Park is located at a 48 acres (0.19 km²) site just off the Hortonwood Roundabout near Donnington opened in 2009. The reopened line is single track and the junction with the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line is at Wellington Donnington Junction, about a quarter mile east of Wellington station.

See also

• Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway
• Railways of Shropshire

External links

• History of the Railway
• London Midland
• Arriva Trains Wales