Shrewsbury–Chester line

The North Wales Mineral Railway, connecting Chester via Wrexham to Ruabon, had been constructed from 1844 to take advantage of mineral rights. However, realising that it offered connection opportunities between the Port of Liverpool and the industrialised Midlands, the railway applied to extend to Shrewsbury. This was refused by Parliament.

Forming an independent group of similar investors, a Private Act of Parliament authorising the construction of the Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Chester Junction Railway passed in 1845. Initially the proposal was to build a completely new line from a junction south east of Chester, it would cross the River Dee near Farndon completely by-passing the North Wales Mineral Railway between Wrexham and Chester. The route would then go through Overton-on-Dee across the Dee again near Chirk before reaching Oswestry and then heading to Shrewsbury. However, in July 1846, the North Wales Mineral Railway merged with the Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Chester Junction Railway to form the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway.[7]

The formation of the new company immediately led to a revision of the plans. Construction of a new line and junction south east from Chester was abandoned. The new company would only need to build a 30 mi (48 km) line between Shrewsbury and the North Wales Mineral line at Wrexham. Likewise when construction was completed by 1848, the final route also bypassed Oswestry (one of the scheme's original destinations). Instead the town would be served by a branch line between a halt in the town and Gobowen.

On 24 May 1847, five passengers were killed and many were injured in the Dee Bridge disaster. A Chester to Ruabon train fell 11 m (36 ft) into the River Dee, following the collapse of the Dee Railway bridge on the outskirts of Chester. A girder, which had cracked in the middle, gave way as the train crossed. The engine and tender managed to reach the other side of the bridge but the carriages crashed into the river.[8] The bridge was engineered by Robert Stephenson despite warnings from civil engineer, William Fairbairn. He had warned Stephenson about the problems using cast iron girders only a few months before construction of the bridge at a meeting at the Institution of Civil Engineers in London, but his advice was ignored. A Royal Commission following this accident led to a re-evaluation of the use of cast-iron in railway bridges. Many new bridges had to be reinforced or rebuilt.

In 1849 the larger London and North Western Railway began aggressively trying to take business from the line in order to put it into bankruptcy. By 1854, the pressure forced the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway to agree to becoming part of the Great Western Railway. The route would become part of the GWR's main line from London Paddington to Birkenhead Woodside.[9]

In 1948, following nationalisation of UK's rail system, the former GWR Shrewsbury–Chester line became part of the Western Region of British Rail. It was later transferred to BR's London Midland Region in 1963.

In the 1960s many of the passenger stations serving smaller communities along the line were closed. The track between Wrexham and Saltney Junction was also reduced from a double to a single line in 1983. There was a large reduction in freight traffic on the route as a result of the mineral industries around Wrexham closing in stages beginning with the Wrexham and Minera Railway in 1952 and then the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway in 1954 and the last section through Croes Newydd closed in 1982.

In December 2005, Arriva Trains Wales introduced a new timetable to the line, providing an hourly service between Shrewsbury and Chester, Monday to Saturday, from early morning until around midnight (involving eight additional trains serving Gobowen). This improved service includes a through train every two hours between Holyhead and Cardiff throughout most of the day. The line saw passenger numbers double during 2003–2004 and increase by 30% since 1999.

On 28 April 2008, Wrexham & Shropshire began services along the section of line between Wrexham General and Shrewsbury, continuing via Wolverhampton to London Marylebone. The service ceased on 28 January 2011, as the operator struggled to gain enough passengers to make it a going concern.[10]

Passenger trains along the line are operated by Transport for Wales and Avanti West Coast, who operate one train per day on weekdays each way between Wrexham General and London Euston, via Chester.

At Chester, there are connections towards Crewe and Holyhead (on the North Wales Coast Line), towards Manchester Piccadilly via Warrington Bank Quay (on the Chester to Manchester Line), towards Manchester Piccadilly via Northwich (on the Mid-Cheshire Line) and towards Liverpool Lime Street (on Merseyrail's Wirral line).

At Wrexham, there are connections towards Liverpool Lime Street (change at Bidston) via The Borderlands line and London via the West Coast Main Line. Wrexham General also acts as a terminus for many services travelling part of the line.

At Shrewsbury, connections are provided towards Carmarthen via Hereford and Cardiff Central and Manchester via Crewe (via the Welsh Marches line), towards Aberystwyth and Pwllheli (on the Cambrian line), towards Swansea (via the Heart of Wales line) and towards Birmingham New Street.

Freight along the line is half transitory and half generated on the line. Padeswood Hall Cement works at Penyfford does not send any of its finished product out by rail, but it does source its coal via Railfreight, mostly just once a week. Most often these trains are from Scotland and they run-round in Croes Newydd Loop south of Wrexham General station.

DB Schenker haul two trainloads of Steel Coil per day from either Llanwern or Port Talbot Steelworks to Shotton steelworks on Deeside. The return empties are twice daily too.

Kronospan's board factory at Chirk has inward flows of timber from Carlisle, Baglan Bay, Teignbridge and Ribblehead. Some of the traffic, especially from Ribblehead is seasonal and sporadic. All inbound flows must enter the works heading south and those leaving must head south too. This is because there is no cross over or run-round facility in the works sidings.[11][12]

The line is designated as a community rail partnership.[13]

In March 2012 the Welsh Assembly announced that sections of the line would be part of a £46-million improvement scheme. This included redoubling the track between Wrexham and Chester (Rossett Junction and Saltney Junction)[14] and upgrading certain sections of line to allow trains to run at 90 mph. Work started on this project in June 2014 and was scheduled for completion in Spring 2015,[15] but it was delayed until April 2017 by Network Rail due to the need for signalling cables to be replaced in addition to the track, signal and level crossing upgrades already installed.[16][17]

It is hoped this will create increased traffic between Wrexham and Chester and encourage new regular services to London and other new destinations. For example, the line could carry an extended hourly Hull to Manchester Piccadilly TransPennine Express service because it could reach Wrexham via Chester. This would provide a direct passenger 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).[18]

May 2019 saw the introduction of two daily services between Wrexham General and Liverpool Lime Street via Chester and Runcorn following the reinstatement of services on the Halton Curve.[19][20]