Wrexham General railway station

In 1846 the first steam trains began the Railway Age in Wrexham. The line was originally called The North Wales Mineral Railway and was backed by local businessmen, among whom the developer of the steel works at Brymbo, Henry Robertson, is well known.

There have been two railway station buildings on the site. The first was the original was built by the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway in Jacobean style with Dutch gable pediments. The architect for that station was Mr Thomas Penson of Wrexham, who also designed the Shrewsbury and Gobowen stations. It was built on the edge of Wrexham, a town which at the time was heavily industrialised and had many coal mines and steelworks to attract the railway companies.

The second station building was constructed by the Great 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 the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, as a through route for steel produced in Shotton and wood for the Chirk MDF 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.[1] 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 the Welsh Assembly.

The suffix "General" was used by the GWR and later the Western 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 the National Rail network, and other "General" stations (including Shrewsbury General and Chester General, which were simply renamed "Shrewsbury" and "Chester" respectively) lost the suffix or (like Cardiff 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 titled Wrexham Central, the "General" suffix was retained.[2]

Until 1967, Wrexham General was served by GWR, latterly BR Western Region, express services between London Paddington and Birkenhead Woodside, which were withdrawn upon the electrification of the West Coast Main Line.

Wrexham Exchange

Wrexham Exchange, which is now platform 4 of Wrexham General, was originally a separate railway station opened in May 1866 for the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway (WMCQR). By the time that WMCQR had been bought by the Great Central Railway, the line was a through station connecting to the Cambrian Railways Wrexham Central Railway Station. The station changed hands again in 1921 during the Grouping, to the London and North Eastern Railway, as one of their few stations in Wales. Wrexham Exchange was named as such from 18 June 1951, with Wrexham General applying to all platforms from 1 June 1981.[3] A platform, which is now used as a staff car park, was put out of use to passengers from August 1973.[4]

A coal train from Gresford Colliery passes through Platform One in 1959.

Wrexham General benefits from Inter-City services towards Holyhead, Liverpool Lime Street, Birmingham International via Birmingham New Street, Cardiff Central, London Euston and a Sundays-only service to Manchester Piccadilly.

The station is also situated on the Borderlands Line, providing local services towards Deeside and Merseyside for connections to Liverpool Central.

Transport for Wales

A Borderlands Line service at platform 4.

An Arriva Trains Wales Class 158 waits at platform 2.

Evenings and Sundays

In the evenings and Sundays there is a slightly different pattern of service, all operated by Transport for Wales.

• 3tp2h to Bidston
• 3tp2h to Wrexham Central
• 1tph to Shrewsbury with 1tp2h extending to Wolverhampton and Birmingham and 2tpd to Hereford and South Wales
• 1tph to Chester with 1tp2h extending to Warrington Bank Quay or Manchester Piccadilly and a small number to Holyhead

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Terminus		Avanti West Coast Wrexham General to London Euston		Chester
Terminus		Transport for Wales Wrexham General to Liverpool Lime Street		Chester
Shrewsbury		Transport for Wales Welsh Marches Line		Chester
Shrewsbury		Transport for Wales Premier Service		Chester
Shrewsbury/Ruabon		Transport for Wales Cardiff Central – Holyhead		Chester
Ruabon		Transport for Wales Birmingham – Holyhead (via Chester)		Chester
Ruabon		Transport for Wales Shrewsbury to Wrexham General Line		Terminus
Wrexham Central		Transport for Wales Borderlands Line		Gwersyllt
	Historical railways
Rhos		Great Western Railway Shrewsbury to Chester Line		Rhosrobin Halt
Plas Power (WMR) Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Wrexham and Minera Railway		Terminus
Gatewen Halt Line and station closed

A layout map of Wrexham General

Wrexham General comprises four operational platforms with two disused bay platforms at the southern end of Platform 1. These were used for trains to Barmouth via the Ruabon Barmouth line until the 1960s. Platforms 1 and 2 are on the main Chester to Shrewsbury line, platform 3 being on an island platform opposite 2; and platform 4, until the mid-1980s a separate former Great Central Railway station named Wrexham Exchange, was on the ex-Ellesmere to Bidston line, now the Wrexham to Bidston Borderlands 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.

• Platform 1 can accommodate a 10 car train,[8] and is used for long distance southbound intercity passenger services to Shrewsbury, and onwards to Birmingham International (via Telford Central) or Cardiff Central, operated by Transport for Wales, and for services terminating at Wrexham from Chester and London Euston. Due to signalling constraints, trains cannot depart to the north.
• Platform 2 can accommodate a 10 car train,[8] and is used for regular northbound passenger inter city and regional services to Chester and services onwards to the North Wales Coast line to Holyhead and for services to Manchester Piccadilly via Chester and Runcorn, operated by Transport for Wales. Inter city Services to London Euston (via Chester and Crewe) are also provided on this platform by Avanti West Coast. Due to signalling constraints, trains cannot depart to the south.
• Platform 3 can accommodate a 7 car train,[8] and was used for regular passenger services to London Marylebone via Shrewsbury, Telford Central and Tame Bridge, operated by Wrexham & Shropshire. This platform is now used by a small number of Borderlands Line passenger services (usually the first northbound and last southbound train each day), for services terminating at Wrexham from Shrewsbury and for freight services changing between the Shrewsbury-Chester line and the Borderlands line. This platform is signalled bidirectionally, so trains can depart either south towards Shrewsbury or north towards Bidston, although no services from Shrewsbury currently depart on the Borderlands line and vice versa. In practice this platform is used for trains terminating from either direction.
• Platform 4 is located outside the main station canopy and is used for regular branch line passenger services northbound to Bidston, and to Wrexham Central in the opposite direction, operated by Transport for Wales. This platform is signalled bidirectionally, so trains can depart either south towards Wrexham Central or north towards Bidston.

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 hourly Cardiff to Holyhead Transport for Wales service (introduced by previous franchise operator Arriva Trains Wales, which occasionally extends to Llanelli. The two hourly Birmingham service has also been extended to Birmingham International and Holyhead.

In April 2008, Ieuan Wyn Jones AM, the Deputy First Minister for Wales opened a new Wrexham Network 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 by Wrexham & Shropshire, who utilised the depot until services to London 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 a lift 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 a timelapse 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 Express Hull – 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 the Halton Curve,[11][12] from May 2019.[13][14]

• 
  Platform 1
• 
  The footbridge, viewed from platform 2
• 
  Platform 3
• 
  Platform 4 serves the Borderlands Line

Oswestry, Gwersyllt, Plas Power & Wrexham on the Railway Clearing House map.

• Hendry, R. Preston; Hendry, R. Powell (1992). Paddington to the Mersey. Oxford Publishing Company. pp. 114–115. ISBN 9780860934424. OCLC 877729237.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2010). Shrewsbury to Chester. Middleton Press. figs. 77-90. ISBN 9781906008703. OCLC 495274299.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wrexham General railway station.

• Chester to Shrewsbury Rail Partnership

• Train times and station information for Wrexham General railway station from National Rail