| Wolverhampton–Shrewsbury line | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Wellington station | |||
| Overview | |||
| Owner | Network Rail | ||
| Locale | |||
| Termini | |||
| Service | |||
| Rolling stock | |||
| Technical | |||
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gauge | ||
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Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line |
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TheWolverhampton–Shrewsbury line is the railway line fromWolverhampton toShrewsbury via Wellington; it was originally built by theShrewsbury and Birmingham Railway. The line is double track throughout, with rarely used relief sidings atCosford and four tracks through Wellington station.
Electrification from Stafford Road Junction toOxley, is provided solely to enable electric stock to accessAlstom'sOxley TRSMD, and is therefore constructed as a "trolley wire" suitable for low speeds only.[1]
Signalling was centred in the panel box at Madeley Junction until 2012,[2] but following the closure of the box there, the West Midlands Signalling Centre at Saltley has taken control of most of the route via its Oxley/Telford Workstation. Previously, Oxley signal box controlled the depot access and sidings until it closed on 27 November 2010 under the West Midlands Resignalling scheme. Towards Shrewsbury,Abbey Foregate signal box takes over for the last few miles beyond Wellington.
The line also had a service toWalsall which ran to Wellington via Wolverhampton, but this service was cutback to Wolverhampton, and then eventually withdrawn altogether.
The line was opened by the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway (S&BR) in 1849, which merged with theGreat Western Railway (GWR) in 1854. In GWR days, until the 1960s it formed part of an important main line route fromLondon Paddington toBirkenhead Woodside. The line historically ran into the GWRsWolverhampton Low Level railway station, before the latter was closed to passenger services in 1972, it now runs into the nearby former High LevelWolverhampton railway station.[3]
Telford Central railway station was opened on the line byBritish Rail in 1986, to serve thenew town ofTelford, which had grown up along its route since the late-1960s.
The towns and villages served by the route are listed below, East to West.
The map includes the former GWRMadeley Branch[4] which formed a connection from Madeley Junction to theWellington to Craven Arms Railway atLightmoor Junction.
Transport for Wales andWest Midlands Trains operate passenger trains on this line. Westbound, some trains go beyondShrewsbury toChester,Holyhead,Pwllheli,Aberystwyth andWrexham General while eastbound, all services continue beyondWolverhampton toBirmingham New Street and/orBirmingham International.[5]
West Midlands Trains operate two services per hour in each direction on the line; alternating half-hourly between a stopping service calling at all local stations to Wolverhampton before continuing to Birmingham New Street viaTame Bridge Parkway and a semi-fast service calling atWellington,Telford Central,Shifnal,Wolverhampton andSmethwick Galton Bridge.[6] These services are operated usingBritish Rail Class 196Diesel multiple units, which were introduced into service in late 2022 and early 2023 following the withdrawal ofClass 170DMUs.
Transport for Wales Rail operate one service per hour in each direction on the line; this service calls atTelford Central andWellington only before continuing toBirmingham International eastbound or toChester,Holyhead,Pwllheli,Aberystwyth orWrexham General when heading westbound. These services are typically operated using theClass 158 DMUs but sometimes useClass 150 orClass 153 DMUs.
From December 2014 to June 2024,Avanti West Coast (formerlyVirgin Trains) ran a daily return services between Shrewsbury and London Euston calling at Wellington and Telford Central. These services were operated usingClass 221DEMUs.[7]
TheCoalbrookdale line, which servedIronbridge Power Station to the south ofTelford nearIronbridge, joined the Wolverhampton–Shrewsbury line at Madeley Junction, which is between Telford Central andShifnal stations.[8] Coal trains ran byEWS up to 2012 and byFastline up to 2010[9] used the route, supplying the power station. Between 2012 and 2015, the power station was converted to run on biomass which was supplied mostly via Liverpool Docks by GBRf trains until closure of the plant in November 2015.[10]
In 2008 the former Wellington to Stafford line was rebuilt as far as Donnington, for freight use.Telford International Railfreight Park is located at a 48 acres (0.19 km2) site just off the Hortonwood Roundabout near Donnington which opened in 2009. The reopened line is single track and runs for 2 miles 68 chains (4.6 km) from the junction with the Wolverhampton–Shrewsbury line at Wellington (0.25 miles (0.40 km) east of Wellington station). Currently the only rail business to and from the site isMinistry of Defence traffic[11] which runs down from Warrington so only uses a brief portion of the line between Shrewsbury and Wellington.[12]
| Main lines |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Inter-regional | ||
| Local |
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| Freight only | ||
| Heritage | ||
