Wrexham General railway station

Wrexham General
General information
Other names	Wrecsam Cyffredinol
Location	Wrexham County Borough
Managed by	Arriva Trains Wales
Platforms	6 (4 in passenger use)
Other information
Station code	WRX
History
Opened	1846 Rebuilt 1912

Wrexham General railway station (Welsh: Wrecsam Cyffredinol) is the main railway station serving Wrexham, north-east Wales. It is currently operated by Arriva Trains Wales, but services are also provided by other operators including Wrexham & Shropshire and a once daily Virgin Trains service to London Euston. The station was first opened in 1846, later becoming part of the GWR network and expanded in 1912.

It is one of two railway stations in the central area of the town (the other being Wrexham Central). It is the main hub for inter-city services in the area, and as a result 77.7% of all rail journeys (2006/07) in Wrexham County Borough start or end at the station.

Until the early 1980s what is now platform 4 of Wrexham General, serving the Wrexham Central - Bidston service, was a separate station: Wrexham Exchange.

History

In 1846 the first steam trains began the Railway Age in Wrexham. The line was originally called The North Wales Mineral Railway This was backed by local businessmen, among whom the developer of the steel works at Brymbo, Henry Robertson, is well known. There have been two railway station buildings on the site: the original was built by the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway in Jacobean style with Dutch gable pediments. The architect for that station was Mr Thomas Penson of Wrexham, who also designed the Shrewsbury and Gobowen stations. It was built on the edge of Wrexham, a town which at the time was heavily industrialised and had many coal mines and steelworks to attract the railway companies.

The second station building was constructed by the GWR in 1912. The company decided the increasing rail traffic needed newer and more efficient facilities, so the station was rebuilt to a standardised GWR 'French Pavilion' design, including ornate crestings on the roof "towers". This station design was unique in that it used stonework from the original building instead of standard red brick. It survived the Beeching cuts of the 1960s as a through route for steel produced in Shotton and wood for the Chirk MDF factory.

In 1997 a wagon on an empty coal train derailed at a nearby level crossing. The train carried on for a mile into Wrexham General where the wagons scraped up the platform, damaging it and the station canopy. This prompted a massive refurbishing, including new canopies, a jetwash of the blackened sandstone buildings, and platform retiling along all main platforms. The out of use bay platform saw no improvements, and retained its 1970s lighting until 2008 when refurbished by the Welsh Assembly Government.

The suffix "General" was used by the Great Western Railway, and later the Western Region of British Railways to differentiate their main stations from others in the area which belonged to other companies. Following the Beeching axe, Wrexham General remains the only "General" station on the National Rail network, whereas other "General" stations (including Shrewsbury General and Chester General, which were simply re-named "Shrewsbury" and "Chester" respectively), lost the suffix or (like Cardiff General, the last station to lose the "General" suffix) were re-dubbed as "Central" stations. Because of the continued presence of two stations serving Wrexham, the other being titled Wrexham Central, the "General" suffix was retained.

Recent developments

The station is currently undergoing a renaissance as a number of new services have been introduced. Since 2005 the station has been a stop of the two hourly Cardiff to Holyhead Arriva Trains Wales service. The two hourly Birmingham New Street service has also been extended to Birmingham International and Holyhead.

From December 2009 the station provides five daily direct services to London on weekdays. Four provided by Wrexham and Shropshire (via Shrewsbury) and an additional return service by Virgin Trains (via Chester and Crewe).

Wrexham and Shropshire's operational headquarters and train depot are located in the station.

Planning permission has been granted for further development at the station, to include a new cafe and taxi rank.

It was announced in November 2008 that the Welsh Assembly Government would fund work on rail infrastructure between Wrexham and Chester; this would allow increased express services from north to south Wales on this congested section of the line. This might see the currently single track section to Saltney Junction restored to double track operation, however the results of recent studies into the improvements has revealed a double track solution would be too costly as two structures crossing the A483 road are built to single track standard, and dynamic loops are more realistic.

Services

Arriva Trains Wales

• Borderlands Line from Wrexham Central to Bidston
• Cardiff Central-Holyhead including Newport, Chester and Bangor
• Birmingham International-Holyhead including Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury

Trains run hourly to Bidston, Holyhead (via Chester) and Shrewsbury and two-hourly to Birmingham and Cardiff and on weekdays and Saturdays. There is a two-hourly service on Sundays to Chester and Birmingham and six services to Bidston.

Wrexham & Shropshire

• London Marylebone-Wrexham including Shrewsbury, Telford and Tame Bridge Parkway.

Four trains per day each way Monday to Saturday and three on Sundays.

Virgin Trains

• Virgin Trains operate one daily service which departs at 07:00 to London Euston calling at Chester, Crewe, Rugby, Milton Keynes and London Euston arriving at 09:38. At Chester, this service attaches to the 05:53 service from Holyhead, which will then depart as a combined service at 07:35. This service is operated by Class 221 SuperVoyager units.

Layout

A layout map of Wrexham General

Wrexham General comprises six platforms. Two bay platforms at the southern end of Platform 1 have recently been refurbished after decades of disuse. These were used for trains to Barmouth via the Ruabon Barmouth line until the 1960s. They are now used for Wrexham and Shropshire services to London and overnight stabling of trains. Platforms 1 and 2 are on the main Chester to Shrewsbury line, platform 3 being on an island platform opposite 2; and platform 4, until the mid-1980s a separate former Great Central Railway station named Wrexham Exchange, was on the ex-Ellesmere to Bidston line, now the Wrexham to Bidston Borderlands Line. Platform 5, once opposite and on the same route as platform 4, became disused when the line was singled, however in 2008 it has been re-surfaced and is now a private parking space.

• Platform 1 is used for southbound passenger services to Shrewsbury, and onwards to Birmingham International (via Telford Central) or Cardiff Central, operated by Arriva Trains Wales.

• Platform 2 is used for northbound passenger services to Chester and services onwards to the North Wales Coast line to Holyhead operated by Arriva Trains Wales. Services to London Euston (via Chester and Crewe) are also provided on this platform by Virgin Trains.

• Platform 3 is used for passenger services to London Marylebone via Shrewsbury, Telford Central and Tame Bridge, operated by Wrexham & Shropshire. This platform is also used by a small number of Borderlands Line passenger services (usually the first northbound and last southbound train each day) and for freight services changing between the Shrewsbury-Chester line and the Borderlands line.

• Platform 4 is used for passenger services northbound to Bidston, and to Wrexham Central in the opposite direction, operated by Arriva Trains Wales.

Infrastructure improvements

On 28 April 2008, Ieuan Wyn Jones AM, the Deputy First Minister for Wales opened a new Wrexham Network Rail depot. It consisted of the refurbishment of two terminal bay platforms to the south of the station for overnight stabling of trains and the construction of a crew depot. The development was opened to coincide with the start of services from Wrexham General to London by Wrexham and Shropshire, who will utilise the depot.

From February 2009 a cafe has opened on the station in formerly empty office space and is run by Wrexham and Shropshire.

Gallery

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External links

• Chester to Shrewsbury Rail Partnership

• Train times and station information for Wrexham General railway station from National Rail

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Wrexham Central		Arriva Trains Wales Borderlands Line		Gwersyllt
Ruabon		Arriva Trains Wales Cardiff-Holyhead		Chester
Ruabon		Arriva Trains Wales Shrewsbury to Chester Line		Chester
		Wrexham & Shropshire London Marylebone - Wrexham		Terminus
Chester		Virgin Trains London Euston-Wrexham		Terminus

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Johnstown and Hafod		Great Western Railway Shrewsbury to Chester Line		Rhosrobin Halt