Chirk railway station

Chirk National Rail
Welsh: Y Waun
Location
Place Chirk
Local authority Wrexham
Coordinates 52°55′59″N 3°03′58″W / 52.933°N 3.066°W / 52.933; -3.066Coordinates: 52°55′59″N 3°03′58″W / 52.933°N 3.066°W / 52.933; -3.066
Grid reference SJ284378
Operations
Station code CRK
Managed by Arriva Trains Wales
Number of platforms 2
DfT category F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11 Increase 60,356
2011/12 Increase 66,002
2012/13 Increase 72,116
2013/14 Decrease 70,646
2014/15 Increase 70,724
History
Original company Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Chester Junction Railway
Pre-grouping Great Western Railway
12 October 1848 Station opens[1]
13 July 1964 Closed to goods
1 March 1974 Unstaffed[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.
UK Railways portal

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, 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.

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The railway itself superseded the Llangollen Canal, which runs parallel to the railway through Chirk, for the transportation of coal and other goods.

Current services

Passenger

Trains run on two routes operated by Arriva Trains 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.[4]

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.

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 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199.
  2. ↑ Clinker, C.R., (1978) Clinker’s Register of Closed Station, Avon Anglia ISBN 0-905466-19-5
  3. ↑ 1956, Official Handbook of Stations, British Transport Commission
  4. ↑ GB eNRT May 2016 Edition, Table 75
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chirk railway station.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Gobowen   Arriva Trains Wales
Shrewsbury to Wrexham General Line		   Ruabon
Historical railways
Trehowell Halt   Great Western Railway
Shrewsbury to Chester Line		   Whitehurst Halt
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/8/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.