Frodsham railway station

Frodsham railway station serves the town of Frodsham, Cheshire, England. The station is managed by Transport for Wales. It was opened along with the line in 1850 and the station building is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.[1] This was restored in 2012 and is in private ownership.

Frodsham
Location
PlaceFrodsham
Local authorityCheshire West and Chester
Grid referenceSJ518779
Operations
Station codeFRD
Managed byTransport for Wales
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryF1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 0.167 million
2015/16 0.175 million
2016/17 0.178 million
2017/18 0.196 million
2018/19 0.289 million
History
Original companyBirkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction Railway
Pre-groupingBirkenhead Railway
Post-groupingBirkenhead Railway
18 December 1850 (1850-12-18)Station opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
  • Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Frodsham from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

The station is unstaffed, however the North Cheshire Rail Users Group have "adopted" the station and work on a voluntary basis to keep it looking clean and tidy.[2]

The station in 1964

Facilities

Although unstaffed (as noted), the station has a self-service ticket machine (card payments only) to allow intending passengers to buy before boarding or to collect pre-paid tickets. Train running information is provided by CIS displays, timetable posters and a pay phone. Waiting shelters are also provided on both sides. Step-free access is available to both platforms, although the footbridge between them has stairs.[3]

Services

The station is served by an hourly Transport for Wales service to Manchester Airport via Warrington Bank Quay and an hourly service to Liverpool Lime Street. In the other direction, services run to Chester, with trains from Manchester often continuing along the North Wales Coast Line as far as Llandudno, while trains from Liverpool currently terminate at Chester save for a single service to Wrexham on weekday and Saturday evenings. On Sundays trains only run between Manchester and Chester and Liverpool and Chester.[4]

Frodsham is also served by the infrequent (one train per day, now northbound only) Northern Trains-operated service between Leeds and Ellesmere Port. This does not run on Saturdays and Sundays.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Helsby   Transport for Wales
Chester to Manchester Line		   Runcorn East
Helsby   Transport for Wales
Halton Curve		   Runcorn
Helsby   Northern Trains
Ellesmere Port to Warrington Line
Mondays-Fridays only		   Runcorn East

Expansion of services

Northern's planned Leeds - Manchester Victoria - Chester service stops here since its launch in May 2019, though only at weekday peak times in the current (May 2019) timetable.

Halton curve

North of Frodsham station, a connecting line to Runcorn (the Halton Curve) diverges. This line was, until September 2018, served by just one "parliamentary" passenger train a week (which operated on summer Saturdays only) to fulfil legal and contractual obligations and keep the line "open" in accordance with Government legislation. The curve had lost its regular service in May 1975, but continued to be used by seasonal passenger trains between Liverpool Lime Street and Llandudno until 1994 (hence the summer-only service requirement). The train started from Chester and ran non-stop to Runcorn, passing through Frodsham without calling.

In May 2019 regular service was reintroduced between Liverpool Lime Street and Chester, via Runcorn, with one train per hour every day. TfW Rail also run two trains a day from Wrexham General to Liverpool Lime Street with one in the opposite direction. These services where originally planned to start in December 2018, however this was delayed due to a shortage of available rolling stock.

Trivia

The welcome sign on the station platform advertises the Sandstone Trail.

See also

References
  1. Historic England. "Frodsham Railway Station with former stationmaster's house (1253195)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  2. NCRUG - Station Projects
  3. Frodsham station facilities National Rail Enquiries
  4. Table 81 National Rail timetable, May 2019

Further reading
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2013). Chester to Warrington. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 43-59. ISBN 9781908174406. OCLC 910526793.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

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