Oakengates railway station

Oakengates Add→{{rail-interchange}}
General information
Location	Telford and Wrekin
Managed by	West Midlands Trains
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	OKN
History
Opened	1849

Oakengates railway station serves the town of Oakengates, part of the new town of Telford, England. It lies on the former Great Western Railway's London (Paddington) to Birkenhead via Birmingham (Snow Hill) line and has two platforms.

About half of the passenger trains running along the line call at the station, the others pass straight through. Passenger numbers using the station have increased dramatically in the last 10 years.

Rail services are primarily provided by West Midlands Trains from Monday to Saturday with Arriva Trains Wales providing a Sunday service. Virgin Trains (West Coast) do not currently call at Oakengates station.

Between Oakengates and Telford Central is the Oakengates Tunnel.

Oakengates Tunnel

This tunnel was a major problem in the construction of the railway. It delayed the project by 3 years, between 1846 and 1849. Details of the difficulties include unseasonable weather contained in a report of 21 August 1848 from Robert Stephenson, Consulting Engineer, and William Baker, the Shropshire Union Railway Engineer. It was originally built for broad gauge railways.

This tunnel is the only tunnel on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton line and the longest of the three railway tunnels presently in use in Shropshire. It stretches for 471 yards.

The tunnel passed under the summit level of the Shropshire Canal and was the scene of a disaster in 1855, when a breach from the canal into the tunnel occurred. The entire summit level emptied into the tunnel, causing flooding in the town, although there were no reports of any personal injury.

An accident occurred at the station on 11 September 1877 when a Great Western train, the 7:40 am from Shrewsbury, arrived at Oakengates station on time at 8:09 am. Its locomotive, no. 153, then exploded due to a boiler failure. The explosion killed the driver, Anthony Robson Potter, and injured several others.

Services

There is a basic hourly off-peak service in each direction (Mon-Sat), westbound to Shrewsbury and eastbound to Wolverhampton & Birmingham New Street run by West Midlands Railway. Additional trains call at peak periods. Arriva Trains Wales run a single late night service each way (Mon-Sat) and also provide a two-hourly Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury service each way on Sundays (some trains run through to Chester and Birmingham International).

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2014). Stafford to Wellington. Middleton Press. figs. 70-73. ISBN 9781908174598. OCLC 913791564.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2009). Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury. Middleton Press. figs. 87-90. ISBN 9781906008444. OCLC 286385795.

External links

• Train times and station information for Oakengates railway station from National Rail
• History of the Railway
• Locations from Steam Index

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Telford Central		Arriva Trains Wales Birmingham - Chester		Wellington
Telford Central		West Midlands Railway Wolverhampton/Birmingham-Shrewsbury Mondays-Saturdays only		Wellington
Telford Central		West Midlands Railway Birmingham New Street - Shrewsbury		Wellington