Wellington railway station (Shropshire)

Wellington (Shropshire)
View of the station facing west towards Shrewsbury.
Location
Place	Wellington, Shropshire
Local authority	Telford and Wrekin
Grid reference	SJ651116
Operations
Station code	WLN
Managed by	West Midlands Trains
Number of platforms	3
DfT category	E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2012/13	0.558 million
2013/14	0.582 million
2014/15	0.609 million
2015/16	0.631 million
2016/17	0.666 million
History
Key dates	Opened 1849 (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 West Midlands Railway (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] The S&BR reached Wolverhampton later that year, but was frustrated in their attempts to reach Birmingham by the London and North Western Railway – it wasn't until both they and the neighbouring Shrewsbury and Chester Railway became part the Great Western Railway in November 1854 trains could run to Birmingham Snow Hill.^[2] Wellington thereafter was jointly run by the LNWR and Great Western companies until the 1923 Grouping.

It subsequently also became a busy junction interchange station, serving lines north to Market Drayton (the Wellington and Drayton Railway opened in 1867^[3]) and south (the Wellington and Severn Junction Railway to Coalbrookdale, opened in 1857) as well as that to Stafford. All three branches closed to passengers 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^[4] 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.^[5]

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.^[6]

Up 'Cambrian Coast Express' in 1960

Although, in its heyday, the station had more platforms, it currently (May 2017) has only three: two through platforms and one bay platform.^[7] 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. Traces of another defunct platform face (the outer side of the old up island platform) can be seen from the car park behind platform 1.

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

Facilities

The station has a ticket office on platform 1 that is staffed part-time (Mon-Fri 07:00 – 17:00, Sat 07:00 – 13:00, closed Sundays). A ticket vending machine is provided on platform 1 for use outside these hours, which can also be used for collecting advance purchase tickets. There are canopied waiting areas on both sides, with toilets adjoining the booking hall on platform 2. Train running information is offered via automated announcements, CIS displays, timetable poster boards and a help point on both platforms. Step-free access is available to all platforms.^[8]

Services

Wellington is currently (May 2017) served by two trains an hour each way between Birmingham New Street and Shrewsbury, one operated by West Midlands Railway and the other by Arriva Trains Wales. Arriva's service operates to/from Birmingham International and runs limited stop, whilst the West Midlands railway service serves intermediate stations to Wolverhampton.^[9] ATW trains continue beyond Shrewsbury alternately either to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli (combined portion service) or to Holyhead via Chester and Llandudno Junction. There is also two services to Llandudno (one on weekends) and one to Manchester Piccadilly on weekday evenings. On Sundays, services are provided by Arriva trains Wales and Virgin trains (west coast) as West Midlands railway does not run a Sunday service on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton line.

The few remaining through trains to Walsall were withdrawn in December 2008.^[10]

Until March 1967 Wellington was served by the GWR, latterly BR Western Region, express services between London Paddington and Birkenhead Woodside; these were withdrawn upon the commissioning of 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 via the WCML using Class 221 Super Voyager units.^[11][12] These began at the December 2014 timetable change.

Gallery

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

References

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2008). Craven Arms to Wellington. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 106-120. ISBN 9781906008338. OCLC 750867075.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2009). Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 94-100. ISBN 9781906008444. OCLC 286385795.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2014). Branch Lines around Market Drayton. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 1-12. ISBN 9781908174673. OCLC 913791564.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2014). Stafford to Wellington. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 53-69. ISBN 9781908174598. OCLC 897871462.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wellington railway station (Shropshire).

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

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Oakengates		West Midlands Railway Wolverhampton/Birmingham-Shrewsbury Mondays-Saturdays only		Shrewsbury
		Arriva Trains Wales Birmingham – Chester
Telford Central		Arriva Trains Wales Cambrian Line		Shrewsbury
Telford Central		Virgin Trains London Euston-Shrewsbury Limited Service		Shrewsbury
Oakengates		West Midlands Railway Birmingham New Street – Shrewsbury		Shrewsbury
	Disused railways
Terminus		Great Western Railway Wellington and Severn Junction Railway		Ketley Line and station closed
Admaston Line open, station closed		London and North Western Railway Stafford to Shrewsbury Line		Hadley Line and station closed
Longdon Halt Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Wellington and Drayton Railway		Terminus

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