Chirk railway station

Chirk railway station (Welsh: gorsaf y Waun) serves the town of Chirk in the county borough of Wrexham, Wales. Chirk station is on the Shrewsbury to Chester Line 21 miles (34 km) north of Shrewsbury, which is part of the former Great Western Railway mainline route from London Paddington to Birkenhead Woodside. The original 19th-century (grade 2 listed) Chirk / Y Waun station building was demolished in 1987, without consultation, by the local council.[3]

Chirk
Welsh: Y Waun
Location
PlaceChirk
Local authorityWrexham
Coordinates52.933°N 3.066°W / 52.933; -3.066
Grid referenceSJ284378
Operations
Station codeCRK
Managed byTransport for Wales
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryF2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 70,724
2015/16 68,444
2016/17 71,844
2017/18 75,524
2018/19 79,746
History
Original companyShrewsbury, Oswestry and Chester Junction Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Western Railway
12 October 1848Station opens[1]
13 July 1964Closed to goods
1 March 1974Unstaffed[2]
National Rail – UK railway stations
  • Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Chirk from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

Chirk was also the eastern terminus and transfer point for the Glyn Valley Tramway.

Historical services

According to the Official Handbook of Stations the following classes of traffic were being handled at this station in 1956: G, P, F, L, H, C and there was a 15 cwt crane.[4] At one time there was also a private siding into the Cadbury's factory from where cocoa liquor was sent to the chocolate factory at Bournville.

The railway itself superseded the Llangollen Canal, which runs parallel to the railway through Chirk, for the transportation of coal and other goods.

Facilities

The station is unstaffed (and has been since 1974) with no ticket provision, so all tickets must be bought on the train or prior to travel. Stone waiting shelters are provided on both platforms, along with a fully accessible ramped footbridge linking them – this was installed in 2015 as part of 88a £2 million Welsh Assembly-funded station improvement project.[5] Train running information is provided via the CIS displays, automated announcements and timetable posters.[6]

Current services
Passenger

Trains run on two routes operated by Transport for Wales:

Some early morning & late evening trains run only between Shrewsbury and either Wrexham General or Chester only, whilst there is a single late evening service northbound to Manchester Piccadilly on weekdays only. Sundays see a two-hourly service to Chester & Birmingham International with a limited number of services to Holyhead & Cardiff.[7]

Freight

To the north of Chirk station on the Up (southbound) side of the line is a private siding into the Kronospan chipboard factory. The siding receives a trainload of softwood from Kingmoor Yard, Cumbria five days a week (Monday to Friday), and additionally, between the months of April and October, up to three trains a week of softwood from Ribblehead, North Yorkshire. Since 2007 these timber trains have been operated to the Chirk Kronospan factory by Colas Rail Ltd.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Gobowen   Transport for Wales
Shrewsbury to Wrexham General Line		   Ruabon
  Historical railways  
Trehowell Halt   Great Western Railway
Shrewsbury to Chester Line		   Whitehurst Halt
  • The Friends of Chirk Station maintain the flowerbeds.
  • An Arriva Trains Wales Class 175 at platform 2
  • An Arriva Trains Wales Class 158 leaves the station heading north, away from the camera, towards Ruabon. The Kronospan factory is to the right.
  • Fully accessible ramped footbridge, installed in 2015

References
  1. Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  2. Clinker, C.R., (1978) Clinker’s Register of Closed Station, Avon Anglia ISBN 0-905466-19-5
  3. Chirk Station Plas Kynaston Canal Group; Retrieved 13 June 2017
  4. 1956, Official Handbook of Stations, British Transport Commission
  5. "Better access for passengers at Chirk station thanks to new footbridge" Network Rail Media Centre article 20 November 2015; Retrieved 13 June 2017
  6. Chirk station facilities National Rail Enquiries
  7. GB eNRT December 2018 Edition, Table 75

Further reading
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2010). Shrewsbury to Chester. Middleton Press. figs. 42-46. ISBN 9781906008703. OCLC 495274299.
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