Hopton Heath railway station

Hopton Heath National Rail

The original station building and present-day platform, looking north.
Location
Place Hopton Heath
Local authority Shropshire Council
Grid reference SO380774
Operations
Station code HPT
Managed by Arriva Trains Wales
Number of platforms 1
DfT category F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05  904
2005/06 Decrease 745
2006/07 Decrease 726
2007/08 Increase 1,470
2008/09 Decrease 1,268
2009/10 Decrease 680
2010/11 Increase 1,074
2011/12 Increase 1,554
2012/13 Increase 2,244
2013/14 Increase 2,990
History
Key dates Opened 1861 (1861)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Hopton Heath from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Hopton Heath railway station is a railway station (though in present times is more akin to a halt) in Hopton Heath, a hamlet in Shropshire, England (which is alternatively spelled as a single word "Hoptonheath"). It lies on the Heart of Wales Line, 25 1⁄2 miles (41.0 km) south west of Shrewsbury.

The station is situated in a very rural area; the nearest sizeable settlement is Hopton Castle and further afield are the larger villages of Clungunford and Leintwardine (the latter in Herefordshire). The station was for a number of years the least used National Rail station in Shropshire, however passenger numbers have recently increased and now Broome is the county's least used station.

The station and line were constructed by the Knighton Railway and opened in 1861. Further construction and route openings in 1865 and 1868 subsequently put the station on a through route between Shrewsbury and Swansea.

The railway station is located below street level, to the south of the B4385 road bridge. The original station building is now private houses. Originally there were two tracks running through, but one has been lifted with the "singling" of the line in general. The station has two platforms: the original, but now disused, Shrewsbury-bound platform extends entirely to the south of the bridge; the remaining passenger platform (originally for Swansea-bound trains, but now used for all trains) extends under the bridge, though at present only the part to the south is usually used by passengers.

Access to the platform is via steps from the road bridge or alternatively via a level footpath (which cycles are also allowed to use) which runs south from the station to the "Ashlea Pools" holiday park entrance.

Services

There are four southbound & five northbound trains a day from Monday to Friday, four each way on Saturdays and two on Sundays. This is a request stop, whereby passengers have to signal to the driver to board or alight from the train. A normal weekday service operates on most Bank holidays.[1]

All trains serving the station are operated by Arriva Trains Wales.

Bus service

A local bus service (the 740, run by Arriva) calls near the station, which travels between Ludlow and Knighton and calls at the nearby villages of Bedstone, Clungunford and Leintwardine. Currently 3 buses per day call at Hopton Heath in each direction.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ GB eNRT 2015-16 Edition, Table 129 (Network Rail)
  2. ↑ Arriva 738, 740
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hopton Heath railway station.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Bucknell   Arriva Trains Wales
Heart of Wales Line		   Broome

Coordinates: 52°23′29″N 2°54′43″W / 52.3915°N 2.912°W / 52.3915; -2.912

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.