Railways Around Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury General Station is 43 miles north west of Birmingham New Street. Many services starting at or passing through the station are bound for Wales; it is operated by Transport for Wales, although the station is also served by Avanti West Coast and West Midlands Trains.
Shrewsbury Station was built in October 1848 for the county's first railway — the Shrewsbury to Chester Line. The architect was Thomas Mainwaring Penson of Oswestry. The building is unusual, in that the station was extended between 1899 and 1903 by the construction of a new floor underneath the original station building.
The building style was imitation Tudor, complete with carvings of Tudor style heads around the window frames. This was done to match the Tudor building of Shrewsbury School (now Shrewsbury Library) almost directly opposite.
The station's platforms also extend over the River Severn. It was operated jointly by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR).
At Shrewsbury the GWR regularly turned its locomotives by running round the triangle formed by using the Abbey Foregate loop, which links the Wolverhampton Line with the Welsh Marches Line and enables through running for freight trains, summer Saturday specials and formerly for trains like the Cambrian Coast Express.
Until 1967 Shrewsbury was served by the GWR / BR Western Region, express services between London Paddington and Birkenhead Woodside.
The station was given Grade II listed status in May 1969.
A notable feature of the station is Severn Bridge Junction Signal Box, the largest mechanical signal box in the world and also a Grade II listed structure recently refurbished by Network Rail.
Read MoreShrewsbury Station was built in October 1848 for the county's first railway — the Shrewsbury to Chester Line. The architect was Thomas Mainwaring Penson of Oswestry. The building is unusual, in that the station was extended between 1899 and 1903 by the construction of a new floor underneath the original station building.
The building style was imitation Tudor, complete with carvings of Tudor style heads around the window frames. This was done to match the Tudor building of Shrewsbury School (now Shrewsbury Library) almost directly opposite.
The station's platforms also extend over the River Severn. It was operated jointly by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR).
At Shrewsbury the GWR regularly turned its locomotives by running round the triangle formed by using the Abbey Foregate loop, which links the Wolverhampton Line with the Welsh Marches Line and enables through running for freight trains, summer Saturday specials and formerly for trains like the Cambrian Coast Express.
Until 1967 Shrewsbury was served by the GWR / BR Western Region, express services between London Paddington and Birkenhead Woodside.
The station was given Grade II listed status in May 1969.
A notable feature of the station is Severn Bridge Junction Signal Box, the largest mechanical signal box in the world and also a Grade II listed structure recently refurbished by Network Rail.
