Chester railway station

## Chester

The front of Chester railway station

**Chester railway station** is a railway station in Newtown in the city of Chester, England. It is currently operated by Transport for Wales, with Northern, Virgin Trains and CrossCountry services also operating from the station. It is situated to the north-east of the city centre. From 1875 to 1969 the station was known as Chester General station, to distinguish from Chester Northgate.

Work on the £10 million regeneration of the station and surrounding areas as part of the Chester Renaissance programme was completed in 2007. The development includes a new roof, improved customer facilities and better access to the station. A small plaque commemorating Thomas Brassey, one of the world's greatest railway building contractors in the early to mid-19th century, can be seen on the wall opposite the new booking office. The station marks one end of the Baker Way, a footpath leading to Delamere.

Normal scheduled departures from Chester Station are: frequent services on the North Wales Coast Line (thereby connecting with Holyhead for ferries to Dublin); Virgin Trains to London Euston via Crewe and to Holyhead; Arriva Trains Wales to Manchester Airport via Warrington Bank Quay as well as North Wales Coast Line trains to Crewe and Birmingham New Street via Wrexham General and Shrewsbury, Llandudno Junction, Llandudno, Holyhead; Northern to Birkenhead Hamilton Square, Manchester Piccadilly via Northwich and Leeds / Bradford Interchange via Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Victoria and CrossCountry to from Birkenhead Hamilton Square to Reading, Southampton Central, Bournemouth, Cheltenham Spa, Bristol Temple Meads and Exeter St. Davids via Crewe, Wolverhampton, and Birmingham New Street.

## History

Opened in 1848, Chester General station was a joint station between the Chester and Holyhead Railway, the Chester and Crewe Railway and the Birkenhead Railway. Later these became the London and North Western Railway (which took over the Chester and Holyhead and the Chester and Crewe) and the Great Western Railway (GWR) (which ran the line to Wrexham and Shrewsbury) These companies owned the Birkenhead Railway jointly .

Architecturally the station has an Italianate frontage designed by Francis Thompson. The station also has carved wooden owls at some strategic locations high in the roof beams to help deter feral pigeons.

GWR and latterly BR Western Region express passenger trains operated from Birkenhead Woodside via Chester, Wrexham, Ruabon, Gobowen, Shrewsbury, Wellington (Salop), Wolverhampton, Birmingham Snow Hill, Leamington Spa and Banbury to London Paddington station until 4 March 1967. The final service, a special named *The Zulu*, was hauled by the Castle Class steam locomotive 7029 *Clun Castle*.

From 1875, Chester was also served by Chester Northgate station (owned by the Cheshire Lines Committee); however, that station was closed in 1969 and is now the site of a leisure centre.

In 1993, a line extension of the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network was accomplished through the use of third rail electrification. The line ended at the station, and became the terminus of a branch of the Wirral Line, and providing frequent rapid access along the Wirral to Birkenhead and all four underground stations in central Liverpool. The historic Chester and Birkenhead Railway, the first railway to serve Chester then became a part of Merseyrail's Wirral Line.

## Architecture

The station was built between 1847 and 1848, designed by Francis Thompson, and built by the railway contractor Thomas Brassey. Also involved in the design and construction were the engineer C. H. Wild. who designed the train shed, and Robert Stephenson. It is built in Staffordshire blue brick and pale grey Storeton sandstone with slate roofs.Its architectural style is Italianate. It has a very long two-storey façade, with a 15-bay central section, and five-bay lateral projecting pavilions, each containing a pair of towers. The middle seven bays of the central section contain carvings by John Thomas. The station building is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II\* listed building. A small plaque commemorating Thomas Brassey, one of the world's greatest railway building contractors in the early to mid-19th century, can be seen on the wall opposite the new booking office. Brassey was born at Buerton, on what is now the Eaton Estate, some 6mikm south of Chester; the house is no longer standing.

## Services

### Virgin Trains (West Coast)

* 1 train per hour to London Euston via Crewe and Milton Keynes Central
* Certain trains from London continue to Holyhead and Bangor
* 1 train per weekday continues to Wrexham General
* Occasional services to/from Crewe start or terminate at Chester or Holyhead or Bangor

### Northern

* 1tph on the Mid-Cheshire Line to Manchester Piccadilly and Stockport via Northwich. Some Sunday services also continue from Manchester to Southport.
* 1 departure each Saturday morning, (during summer months only), using the Halton Curve to Runcorn. On occasions, this service is extended to Liverpool South Parkway. This service operates northbound only, with no return service.

There are proposals (see below) under consideration to reinstate a regular passenger service along the Halton Curve south of Runcorn railway station, which would permit the re-introduction of through trains from Liverpool to the North Wales Coast.

## External links

Template:Cheshire railway stations