Chirk railway station

Chirk
Welsh: Y Waun
Location
Place	Chirk
Local authority	Wrexham
Coordinates	52°55′59″N 3°03′58″W / 52.933°N 3.066°WCoordinates: 52°55′59″N 3°03′58″W / 52.933°N 3.066°W
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	60,356
2011/12	66,002
2012/13	72,116
2013/14	70,646
2014/15	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The railway itself superseded the Llangollen Canal, which runs parallel to the railway through Chirk, for the transportation of coal and other goods.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:

• Hourly northbound service to Holyhead via Wrexham General and Chester.
• Hourly southbound service to Shrewsbury then continuing alternately to give a two-hourly service to both Birmingham International and Cardiff Central via Hereford.

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.

Gallery

• 
  The Friends of Chirk Station maintain the flowerbeds.
• 
  An Arriva Trains Wales Class 175 at platform 2
• 
  An Arriva Trains Wales Class 158 leaves the station heading north, away from the camera, towards Ruabon. The Kronospan factory is to the right.

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

External links

• Chester to Shrewsbury Rail Partnership

• Train times and station information for Chirk railway station from National Rail
• Chirk station on navigable 1946 O.S. map