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.jpg) Wrexham General railway station | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Wrexham,Wrexham County Borough Wales | ||||
| Coordinates | 53°03′03″N3°00′05″W / 53.05083°N 3.00139°W /53.05083; -3.00139 | ||||
| Grid reference | SJ329508 | ||||
| Managed by | Transport for Wales | ||||
| Lines | Shrewsbury–Chester Borderlands | ||||
| Platforms | 4 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | WRX | ||||
| Classification | DfT category D | ||||
| History | |||||
| Opened | 1846 Rebuilt 1912 Cafe and new platforms opened 2008 Platform 4 and footbridge rebuilt 2011 | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2019/20 |  0.502 million | ||||
| 2020/21 | 0.128 million | ||||
| 2021/22 |  0.400 million | ||||
| 2022/23 | 0.489 million | ||||
| 2023/24 | 0.630 million | ||||
Listed Building – Grade II | |||||
| Feature | Wrexham General Station: Entrance Building | ||||
| Designated | 5 September 1986 | ||||
| Reference no. | 1855[1] | ||||
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Wrexham General (Welsh:Wrecsam Cyffredinol) is the main railway station serving the city ofWrexham, north-eastWales, and one of the two serving the city, alongsideWrexham Central. It is currently operated and mostly served byTransport for Wales, with some additional services provided byAvanti West Coast toLondon Euston.
The station was first opened in 1846, later becoming part of theGreat Western Railway (GWR) network and expanded in 1912. It is one of three railway stations in the central area of the city, one now part of General, namedWrexham Exchange, the other beingWrexham Central. It is the main hub for inter-city services in the area, and as a result 78% of all rail journeys (2006/07) in Wrexham County Borough start or end at the station. It is also a major hub for inter-city services in North Wales.
Until the early 1980s what is now platform 4 of Wrexham General, serving theWrexham Central – Bidston service, was part of a separate station: Wrexham Exchange.
In 1846 the first steam trains began the Railway Age in Wrexham. The line was originally called TheNorth Wales Mineral Railway and was backed by local businessmen, among whom the developer of the steel works atBrymbo,Henry Robertson, is well known.
There have been two railway station buildings on the site. The first was the original was built by theShrewsbury and Chester Railway inJacobean style withDutch gable pediments. The architect for that station was MrThomas Penson of Wrexham, who also designed theShrewsbury andGobowen stations. It was built on the edge of Wrexham, then a town which was heavily industrialised with many coal mines and steelworks to attract railway companies.
The second station building was constructed by theGreat Western Railway (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". The station design was unique in that it used stonework from the original building instead of standard red brick. It survived theBeeching cuts of the 1960s, as a through route for steel produced inShotton and wood for theChirkMDF factory.
On 24 April 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.[2] That 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 it was refurbished by theWelsh Assembly.
The suffix "General" was used by the GWR and later theWestern 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 theNational Rail network, and other "General" stations (includingShrewsbury General andChester General, which were simply renamed "Shrewsbury" and "Chester" respectively) lost the suffix or (likeCardiff 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 titledWrexham Central, the "General" suffix was retained.[3]
Until 1967, Wrexham General was served by GWR, latterly BR Western Region, express services betweenLondon Paddington andBirkenhead Woodside, which were withdrawn upon the electrification of the West Coast Main Line.
Wrexham Exchange, which is now platform 4 of Wrexham General, was originally a separate railway station opened in May 1866 for theWrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway (WMCQR). By the time that WMCQR had been bought by theGreat Central Railway, the line was a through station connecting to theCambrian RailwaysWrexham Central Railway Station. The station changed hands again in 1921 during theGrouping, to theLondon and North Eastern Railway, as one of their few stations in Wales.Wrexham Exchange was named as such from 18 June 1951, withWrexham General applying to all platforms from 1 June 1981.[4] One of the two platforms was put out of use to passengers from August 1973[5] and was converted to a car park for Wrexham & Shropshire staff in 2008. Since the demise of that service the platform area has been out of regular use.
Wrexham General benefits from inter-city services towardsHolyhead,Liverpool Lime Street,Birmingham International viaBirmingham New Street,Cardiff Central,London Euston and a Sundays-only service toManchester Piccadilly.
The station is also situated on theBorderlands Line, providing local services towardsDeeside andMerseyside for connections toLiverpool Central.
Transport for Wales – Borderlands Line:[6]
Transport for Wales – North-South services via the Shrewsbury to Chester Line:[7]
Avanti West Coast (Mon-Fri only)
In the evenings and Sundays, there is a slightly different pattern of service; all services are operated by Transport for Wales.
Wrexham General comprises four operational platforms with two disused bay platforms at the southern end of Platform 1. These were used for trains toBarmouth via theRuabon Barmouth line until the 1960s. Platforms 1 and 2 are on the mainChester toShrewsbury line, platform 3 being on an island platform opposite 2; and platform 4, until the mid-1980s a separate formerGreat Central Railway station namedWrexham Exchange, was on the ex-Ellesmere to Bidston line, now the Wrexham to BidstonBorderlands 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.
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 hourlyCardiff toHolyheadTransport for Wales service (introduced by previous franchise operatorArriva Trains Wales, which occasionally extends toLlanelli. The two hourlyBirmingham service has also been extended toBirmingham International andHolyhead.
In April 2008,Ieuan Wyn Jones AM, theDeputy First Minister for Wales opened a new WrexhamNetwork 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 byWrexham & Shropshire, who utilised the depot until services toLondon Marylebone stopped in January 2011.
From February 2009 a cafe has opened on the station in formerly empty office space. In June 2011, construction began on the increased access for disabled people to platform four. The existing footbridge between platforms three and four was removed in preparation for the construction of a new footbridge which includes alift on Platform four. This obviates the use of the road bridge for disabled access to platform four. The new bridge has been built to modern standards but in a style sympathising with the rest of the station design. The footbridge was installed in a record 12 hours and atimelapse video was shot of the event.
On 20 March 2012 it was announced that sections of the North to South Wales line would be upgraded along the Wrexham section of the line to a total of £46 million worth of improvements. These include redoubling the Wrexham – Chester section, and upgrading sections of the line to allow for 90 mph running throughout. This will allow for an increase in traffic between Wrexham and Chester, including further London services and a possibility of regular services to new destinations. One report has suggested extending the hourly First TransPennine ExpressHull –Manchester Piccadilly service to Wrexham via Chester, which would provide a direct service to Manchester, Leeds and Hull. Other suggestions include extending the current hourly Chester – Crewe shuttle service south to Wrexham and north to Manchester (via Manchester Airport).[9] Although the engineering work completed in April 2017, no new developments are anticipated until late 2017 at the earliest.[10]
Transport for Wales have confirmed plans to introduce peak time services to and from Liverpool Lime Street via Chester and Runcorn, along theHalton Curve,[11][12] from May 2019.[13][14]
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Railway stations inWrexham County Borough | |
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| Borderlands line | |
| Shrewsbury–Chester line |
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