Wellington (Shropshire) railway station

Wellington (Shropshire)
View of the station facing north towards Shrewsbury.
Location
Place	Wellington, Shropshire
Local authority	Telford and Wrekin
Grid reference	SJ651116
Operations
Station code	WLN
Managed by	London Midland
Number of platforms	3
DfT category	E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	0.543 million
2011/12	0.560 million
2012/13	0.558 million
2013/14	0.582 million
2014/15	0.609 million
History
Key dates	Opened 1849
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Wellington (Shropshire) from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Wellington railway station serves the town of Wellington, Shropshire, England. It is situated on the former Great Western Railway's London (Paddington) to Birkenhead via Birmingham (Snow Hill) line. Trains are operated by London Midland (who manage the station), Arriva Trains Wales and Virgin Trains (West Coast).

History

The station was built at the junction of the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway with the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company's line from Stafford via Newport. It was opened on 1 June 1849.^[1] It subsequently also became a busy junction interchange station, serving lines north to Market Drayton (the Wellington and Drayton Railway opened in 1867^[2]) and south (the Wellington and Severn Junction Railway to Coalbrookdale, opened in 1857) as well as that to Stafford. All three branches closed in the early 1960s - the Coalbrookdale line being the first to go in July 1962, that to Market Drayton and Nantwich following in September 1963 and the Stafford line almost exactly a year later under the Beeching Axe in 1964. Services to Birmingham Snow Hill via Wolverhampton Low Level finally ended in March 1968 (a year after the ending of through trains to London Paddington via this route), with trains henceforth diverted to the ex-LNWR High Level station at Wolverhampton and onwards to Birmingham New Street over the Stour Valley line.

The town of Wellington was designated as part of the new town of Telford in the 1960s. As Telford did not have its own railway station at first, Wellington station was renamed "Wellington - Telford West" to indicate that it now served the new town. After Telford Central station opened in 1986, Wellington eventually reverted to its original name, although this did not happen for a number of years.^[3]

Up 'Cambrian Coast Express' in 1960

Although, in its heyday, the station had more platforms, it currently (May 2015) has only three: two through platforms and one bay platform.^[4] Platform 3, the bay platform, is now out of regular use following the withdrawal of the Wellington to Walsall local service and its subsequent replacement with through Shrewsbury to Birmingham New Street local services.

In late 2009-early 2010 the station was refurbished by London Midland.

Services

Wellington is currently (May 2016) served by two trains an hour each way between Birmingham New Street and Shrewsbury, one operated by London Midland and the other by Arriva Trains Wales. Arriva's service operates to/from Birmingham International and runs limited stop, whilst the London Midland one serves intermediate stations to Wolverhampton.^[5] ATW trains continue beyond Shrewsbury alternately either to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli (combined portion service) or to Holyhead via Chester. There is also two services to Llandudno (one on weekends) and one to Manchester Piccadilly on weekdays.

The few remaining through trains to Walsall were withdrawn in December 2008.

Until March 1967 Wellington was served by the GWR, latterly BR Western Region, express services between London Paddington and Birkenhead Woodside; this was withdrawn upon the electrification of the West Coast Main Line. Between 28 April 2008 and 28 January 2011, Wellington was a stop on Wrexham & Shropshire's service between Wrexham General and London Marylebone.

Virgin Trains now run two daily services to and from London Euston.^[6] These began at the December 2014 timetable change.

Gallery

• 
  Viewed from the road bridge.
• 
  Viewed from the platform.

References

1. "Bygone Lines - Stafford to Newport"London and North Western Railway Society; Retrieved 18 March 2016
2. "Market Drayton / Nantwich Branch"John Speller's Web Pages; Retrieved 18 March 2016
3. Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2009). Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury. Midhurst: Middleton Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-1906008-44-4.
4. Wellington Station - Platform 2 National Rail Enquires website; Retrieved 1 July 2015
5. GB National Rail Timetable May - December 2016, Tables 74 & 75
6. "Blackpool and Shrewsbury direct rail services to London approved". BBC News. 22 September 2014.

External links

• Train times and station information for Wellington (Shropshire) railway station from National Rail

Coordinates: 52°42′05″N 2°31′01″W / 52.7015°N 2.517°W