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The Chester & Connah's Quay Railway ran from Chester Northgate in Chester, Cheshire, England to Shotton, Flintshire, Wales. It was in use for its full length from 1890 to 1992.
At Dee Marsh Junction it connected with the North Wales and Liverpool Railway. It then crossed the River Dee by means of Hawarden Bridge before joining the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway at Shotton.
The only section of the Chester & Connah's Quay Railway which remains in use is between Dee Marsh Junction and Shotton, forming part of the Borderlands Line.
The rest of the line closed to passenger trains in 1968, but remained open to freight trains until 1992. Even though steelmaking operations at the British Steel plant at Shotton ceased in March 1980, [1] freight continued to use the double-tracked line until 20 April 1984. Goods services resumed on a single-track line on 31 August 1986 before final closure in June 1992. [2] This was precipitated by the closure of Ravenscraig steelworks in Motherwell, Scotland, as freight trains using the line ran between Ravenscraig and Shotton rolling mill.
Since the line between Chester and Dee Marsh closed, the track has been lifted and the route is now a cycle path, forming part of Route 5 of the National Cycle Network.
Shotton is a town and community in Flintshire, Wales, within the Deeside area along the River Dee, joined with Connah's Quay, near the border with England. It is located 5 miles (8 km) west of Chester and can be reached by road from the A548. At the 2011 Census Shotton had a population of 6,663. The OS Grid Reference is SJ305685
The Buckley Railway was opened from Buckley to a connection with the Chester to Holyhead main line in 7/6/62, to convey coal and finished brickworks products from the Buckley area. Numerous short tramroads had existed in the area fron the 1700s. The line was steeply graded and sharply curved.
The Shrewsbury–Chester line, was built in 1846 by the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway. The engineer for the line was Henry Robertson, a partner in locomotive builders Beyer Peacock, while the contractor was Thomas Brassey in partnership with William Mackenzie and Robert Stephenson.
Deeside is the name given to a predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages in Flintshire and Cheshire on the Wales–England border lying near the canalised stretch of the River Dee that flows from neighbouring Chester into the Dee Estuary. These include Connah's Quay, Shotton, Queensferry, Aston, Garden City, Sealand, Broughton, Bretton, Hawarden, Ewloe, Mancot, Pentre, Saltney and Sandycroft. The population is around 50,000, with a plurality (17,500) living in Connah's Quay.
Bidston railway station is a railway station that serves the village of Bidston, Birkenhead, on the Wirral, England. The station is situated at the junction of the West Kirby branch of the Wirral line, which is part of the Merseyrail network, and with the Borderlands line from Wrexham Central, operated by Transport for Wales. Bidston is the northern terminal of the Borderlands Line.
Shotton railway station serves the towns of Shotton and Connah's Quay, Flintshire, Wales. It is situated where the Borderlands Line crosses the North Wales Coast Line. All passenger services are operated by Transport for Wales, which manages the station.
Chester Northgate is a former railway station in Chester, Cheshire, England, that was a terminus for the Cheshire Lines Committee and Great Central Railway. It was the city centre's second station with regular services to Manchester Central, Seacombe and Wrexham Central.
Hawarden Bridge crosses the River Dee, near Shotton, Flintshire, Wales. The bridge was built by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, on the Chester & Connah's Quay Railway. It opened on 3 August 1889.
Hawarden Bridge railway station is a railway station near Shotton, Flintshire, Wales. It is situated on the Borderlands Line 13 miles (21 km) north of Wrexham Central, on the north side of Hawarden Bridge over the River Dee. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Transport for Wales.
The Chester and Holyhead Railway was an early railway company conceived to improve transmission of Government dispatches between London and Ireland, as well as ordinary railway objectives. Its construction was hugely expensive, chiefly due to the cost of building the Britannia Tubular Bridge over the Menai Strait. The company had relied on Government support in facilitating the ferry service, and this proved to be uncertain. The company opened its main line throughout in 1850. It relied on the co-operation of other railways to reach London and in 1859 it was absorbed by the London and North Western Railway.
The Wrexham and Minera Railway or Wrexham and Minera Branch was a railway line in North Wales between the town of Wrexham, the village of Brymbo where it served the Brymbo Steelworks, and the lead mines and limeworks at Minera. A further branch ran from Brymbo to Coed Talon, where it connected with lines to Mold. The system was constructed in several stages between 1844 and 1872, while the various lines making up the system closed in 1952, 1972 and 1982.
The Mid-Cheshire line is a railway line in the northwest of England that used to run from Chester Northgate to Edgeley Junction, Stockport and connects Chester with Manchester Piccadilly via Knutsford. After Chester Northgate closed in 1969 the section between Mickle Trafford Junction and Chester was used for freight trains only until it closed in 1992. From Mickle Trafford passenger trains use the Chester–Warrington line to Chester General instead. The route taken by passenger trains has changed over the years and now differs considerably from the original. Between 2001 and 2014, passenger journeys on the line increased to over 1.7 million per year. A near doubling of the passenger service will occur from December 2018.
Buckley railway station serves the town of Buckley in Flintshire, Wales. The station is 8½ miles (14 km) north of Wrexham Central on the Borderlands Line.
Blacon railway station was located in Blacon, Cheshire, England and was part of the line between Chester Northgate and Hawarden Bridge. This line was later extended to reach Wrexham and Birkenhead.
Connah's Quay known locally as "The Quay" is a community and the largest town in Flintshire, lying within the Deeside conurbation along the River Dee, near the border with England. It is located 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Chester and can be reached by road from the A548, by rail from the nearby Shotton railway station, and also is on the National Cycle Network Route 5. It is also lies just south of Deeside Industrial Park, one of the largest such complexes in the region. The major part of Tata steelworks is also on the town's border on the north bank of the River Dee. Wepre Woods, an ancient woodland in the town, is controlled by Flintshire County Council's Ranger Service and includes Ewloe Castle which dates from the 13th century.
Chester Liverpool Road was a station on the former Chester & Connah's Quay Railway between Chester Northgate and Hawarden Bridge. It was located at the junction of Liverpool Road and Brook Lane in Chester.
Saughall was a railway station on the former Chester & Connah's Quay Railway between Chester Northgate and Hawarden Bridge. It was 0.63 miles (1.01 km) from the village of Saughall, Cheshire. Although it was named for the village, it was actually in Flintshire, Wales.
Sealand was the final station on the former Chester & Connah's Quay Railway between Chester Northgate and Hawarden Bridge. Services also passed through this station before joining the North Wales and Liverpool Railway. Located 200 metres (660 ft) west of the A550 near RAF Sealand, the station was just before a triangular junction at Dee marshes which controlled rail services from North Wales, Liverpool and Cheshire.
The North Wales Mineral Railway was formed to carry coal and ironstone from the mineral-bearing area around Wrexham to the River Dee wharves. It was extended to run from Shrewsbury and formed part of a main line trunk route, under the title The Shrewsbury and Chester Railway. It opened in 1846 from Chester to Ruabon, and in 1848 from Ruabon to Shrewsbury. It later merged with the Great Western Railway.
Mickle Trafford East railway station was located in Mickle Trafford, Cheshire, England. The station was opened by the Cheshire Lines Committee on 1 May 1875, closed to passengers on 12 February 1951 and closed completely on 1 July 1963 by the British Railways Board It was located where the CLC route to Chester Northgate passed close to the Birkenhead Joint Railway line from Warrington Bank Quay - the latter also had its own station nearby, opened in 1889 and closed just a couple of months after Mickle Trafford East.
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