Oakengates railway station

Oakengates National Rail
Location
Place Oakengates
Local authority Telford and Wrekin
Grid reference SJ696107
Operations
Station code OKN
Managed by London Midland
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 41,152
2011/12 Increase 52,214
2012/13 Increase 53,154
2013/14 Increase 54,620
2014/15 Decrease 54,410
History
Key dates Opened 1849 (1849)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Oakengates from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Oakengates railway station serves the town of Oakengates, part of the new town of Telford, England. It lies on the former Great Western Railway's London (Paddington) to Birkenhead via Birmingham (Snow Hill) line and has two platforms.

About half of the passenger trains running along the line call at the station, the others pass straight through. Passenger numbers using the station have increased dramatically in the last 10 years.

Rail services are provided by London Midland and Arriva Trains Wales. Virgin Trains (West Coast) do not currently call at Oakengates station.

Between Oakengates and Telford Central is the Oakengates Tunnel.

Oakengates Tunnel

This tunnel was a major problem in the construction of the railway. It delayed the project by 3 years, between 1846 and 1849. Details of the difficulties include unseasonable weather contained in a report of 21 August 1848 from Robert Stephenson, Consulting Engineer, and William Baker, the Shropshire Union Railway Engineer. It was originally built for broad gauge railways.

This tunnel is the only tunnel on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton line and the longest of the three railway tunnels presently in use in Shropshire. It stretches for 471 yards.

The tunnel passed under the summit level of the Shropshire Canal and was the scene of a disaster in 1855, when a breach from the canal into the tunnel occurred. The entire summit level emptied into the tunnel, causing flooding in the town, although there were no reports of any personal injury.[1]

Services

There is a basic hourly off-peak service in each direction (Mon-Sat), westbound to Shrewsbury and eastbound to Wolverhampton & Birmingham New Street run by London Midland. Additional trains call at peak periods. Arriva Trains Wales run a single late night service each way (Mon-Sat) and also provide a two-hourly Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury service each way on Sundays (some trains run through to Chester and Birmingham International).[2]

References

  1. ↑ Oakengates History: Shropshire Canal
  2. ↑ GB eNRT May 2016 Edition, Table 74 (Network Rail)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oakengates railway station.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Telford Central   Arriva Trains Wales
Birmingham - Chester		   Wellington
Telford Central   London Midland
Wolverhampton/Birmingham-Shrewsbury
Mondays-Saturdays only		   Wellington

Coordinates: 52°41′35″N 2°27′00″W / 52.693°N 2.450°W / 52.693; -2.450


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/7/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.