General information | |
---|---|
Location | Hereford, Herefordshire England |
Coordinates | 52°03′41″N2°42′30″W / 52.06139°N 2.70833°W |
Grid reference | SO515405 |
Managed by | Transport for Wales |
Platforms | 4 |
Other information | |
Station code | HFD |
Classification | DfT category C1 |
History | |
Original company | Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway |
Pre-grouping | Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway |
Post-grouping | Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway |
Key dates | |
6 December 1853 | Opened as Hereford Barr's Court |
1893 | Renamed Hereford |
Passengers | |
2018/19 | 1.216 million |
Interchange | 57,141 |
2019/20 | 1.194 million |
Interchange | 51,354 |
2020/21 | 0.500 million |
Interchange | 7,585 |
2021/22 | 1.003 million |
Interchange | 31,474 |
2022/23 | 1.117 million |
Interchange | 38,364 |
Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road |
Hereford railway station serves the city of Hereford,in Herefordshire,England. Managed by Transport for Wales,it lies on the Welsh Marches Line between Leominster and Abergavenny,is the western terminus of the Cotswold Line and also has an hourly West Midlands Trains service from Birmingham New Street. The station has four platforms for passenger trains and two additional relief lines for goods services.
Accorded 'Secure Station' status in 2004, [1] the station has a staffed ticket office (signposted as a "Travel Centre"),self-service ticket machines,a caféand indoor waiting rooms. Automated ticket barriers have been in operation since 28 February 2006. [2]
There were originally two stations in Hereford:Barton and Barrs Court.
Hereford Barton ( 52°03′23″N2°43′28″W / 52.0563°N 2.7245°W ) lay to the west of the city and had been built by the Newport,Abergavenny and Hereford Railway (NA&HR). However,Barton was small and in a cramped location,and was not big enough nor could it be enlarged for the greater traffic that would entail from the arrival of the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway from the north.
The resolution was an agreement to create a new joint railway station to the north-east of the city,called Hereford Barrs Court. This would be a joint standard gauge/broad gauge station,sponsored jointly by the standard-gauge Shrewsbury &Hereford Railway (S&HR) and the GWR-sponsored Hereford,Ross and Gloucester Railway (HR&GR). When the Midland Railway sponsored Hereford,Hay and Brecon Railway entered the town,they were given access rights,as was the later Worcester and Hereford Railway, [3] which joined the S&HR's route to the north of the city at Shelwick Junction.
In civil engineering preparation for this,and as the only company planning to enter the town from the north,the S&HR built a brick works north of Dinmore Hill in 1849,which was fed by clay from the earthworks of digging a tunnel south underneath it. In 1852,2+1⁄2 years later and having used 3+1⁄4 million bricks the tunnel was completed, freight traffic started in July 1852 to provide cash flow. However, construction continued, with the massive earthworks for a cutting to enter Barrs Court started in August 1852. [3]
The plan was to jointly open both stations between all four railways on 6 December 1853, with what was planned to be a Railway Fete. However, the first S&HR passenger service arrived at Barrs Court on Saturday 28 October, which carried the chairman Mr Ormsby-Gore and engineer Thomas Brassey. [3] As the negotiations and financing of the joint station had taken so long, they arrived at an incomplete facility. [4] Whilst completion of the station would follow shortly after, significant rebuilding would occur later in the nineteenth century, when the current Victorian Gothic buildings, designed by R.E. Johnson, [5] would be constructed. [2] The station opened on 6 December 1853, and the name was simplified to Hereford in 1893 on the closure of Barton station to passengers. [6]
In 1866, a line connecting the NA&HR's route to the south of the city, branching off from the line to Barton at Redhill and joining with the HR&GR's route into Barrs Court station from the south, rendered Barton station obsolete, as through north–south services could now utilise the larger and better equipped Barrs Court station. However, Barton clung onto passenger services until January 1893, [7] the last services to use it being Midland Railway trains to Hay-on-Wye and Brecon. It would remain open as a goods only station until 1979, and the route through it from north to south, used as a goods only line to avoid Barrs Court, also remained until approximately this time[ disputed (for: Its signalboxes had all closed in 1966) ].
The former branches to Brecon via Hay-on-Wye and Gloucester both closed to passenger traffic in the early 1960s; Brecon services were withdrawn from 31 December 1962, [8] whilst the Gloucester via Ross-on-Wye line fell victim to the Beeching Axe on 2 November 1964. [9]
The station was designated a Grade II listed building in 1973. [10]
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Hereford is served by trains operated by Great Western Railway, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Trains. It is the terminus of the routes from Birmingham New Street and London Paddington, via Worcester Foregate Street; it is also served by all trains on the Manchester Piccadilly to Cardiff and Carmarthen route. [11]
On Sundays, the service to Birmingham New Street is reduced to 1tp2h, the service to London Paddington is reduced to 3tpd and the service to Holyhead is reduced to 2tpd.
Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Abergavenny | Transport for Wales Welsh Marches Line | Leominster | ||
Abergavenny | Transport for Wales North-South "Premier" service | Ludlow | ||
Terminus | West Midlands Railway (Malvern Line,Hereford to Birmingham) | Ledbury | ||
West Midlands Railway (Snow Hill lines,Hereford to Dorridge) | ||||
Great Western Railway Cotswold Line | ||||
Historical railways | ||||
Holme Lacy | Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway British Railways | Terminus |
Herefordshire is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire and Powys to the west. The city of Hereford is the largest settlement and the county town.
The Welsh Marches line, known historically as the North and West Route, is the railway line running from Newport in south-east Wales to Shrewsbury in the West Midlands region of England by way of Abergavenny, Hereford and Craven Arms and thence to Crewe via Whitchurch. The line thus links the south of Wales to north-west England via the Welsh Marches region, bypassing Birmingham. Through services from south-west Wales, Swansea and Cardiff to Manchester and from Cardiff to Wrexham, Chester, the north coast of Wales and Anglesey constitute the bulk of passenger operations on the route.
University railway station serves the University of Birmingham, Birmingham Women's Hospital, and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the West Midlands of England. It is on the Cross-City Line, which runs from Redditch and Bromsgrove to Lichfield via Birmingham New Street. Most services are operated by West Midlands Railway who manage the station, but some are operated by CrossCountry.
The Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster line is a railway line which runs from Birmingham Snow Hill to Worcester via Stourbridge and Kidderminster in the West Midlands, England. It is one of the Snow Hill Lines, with trains operated by West Midlands Trains and Chiltern Railways using a variety of rolling stock including Class 172 and Class 168 diesel units. It is a future aspiration of Network Rail to electrify the entire line, as well as the Chiltern Main Line to London Marylebone.
Wrexham General is the main railway station serving the city of Wrexham, north-east Wales, and one of the two serving the city, alongside Wrexham Central. It is currently operated and mostly served by Transport for Wales, with some additional services provided by Avanti West Coast to London Euston.
Colwall railway station is a railway station on the Cotswold Line serving the village of Colwall in Herefordshire, England. The station has one platform with seating. There is no ticket office; a passenger-operated Permit to Travel machine is installed, and there has been a ticket machine since 2015.
Worcester Shrub Hill railway station is one of two railway stations serving the city of Worcester in Worcestershire, England. The other station is Worcester Foregate Street in the city centre. A third station, Worcestershire Parkway, is located just outside the city to the south-east. The station is managed by West Midlands Trains, operating here under the West Midlands Railway brand, and it is also served by Great Western Railway.
Hay was a railway station serving the town of Hay-on-Wye in Powys, Wales, although the station was located just across the English border in Herefordshire. Hay had one of the earliest railway stations in the country, being part of a horse-drawn tramway.
Dorridge railway station serves the large village of Dorridge in the West Midlands of England. The station is served by Chiltern Railways, who manage the station, and also by West Midlands Trains. It is situated 10+1⁄2 miles (16.9 km) south of Birmingham Snow Hill.
Tyseley railway station serves the district of Tyseley in Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It is at the junction of the lines linking Birmingham with Leamington Spa and Stratford-upon-Avon.
Droitwich Spa railway station serves the town of Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire, England. It is located just to the south-west of Droitwich Spa Junction of the Worcester to Leamington Spa Line and the Worcester to Birmingham New Street line. The station is managed by West Midlands Trains, who also operate all trains serving it.
Worcester Foregate Street railway station, opened by the Great Western Railway in 1860 serves the city of Worcester, Worcestershire, England. It is one of the two stations serving the city, with the other station, Worcester Shrub Hill, being located to the east. A third station, Worcestershire Parkway, is located just outside the city to the south-east.
Rowley Regis railway station serves the town of Blackheath and the Rowley Regis area of Sandwell, in the county of West Midlands, England. It is located on the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway, who provide the majority of train services; there are also occasional services provided by Chiltern Railways.
Hereford has seen a history of expansion and decline in its railway history.
The Birmingham to Worcester via Bromsgrove line is a railway line in the West Midlands of England connecting Birmingham to Worcester via Bromsgrove. The most notable feature on the line is the Lickey Incline, between Barnt Green and Bromsgrove.
The Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway was an English railway company that built a standard gauge line between those places. It opened its main line in 1853.
The Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway was a railway company formed to connect the places in its name. When it sought Parliamentary authorisation, it was denied the southern section, and obliged to use the Monmouthshire Railway between Pontypool and Newport.
The Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway (HH&BR) was a railway company that built a line between Hereford in England and a junction with the Mid-Wales Railway at Three Cocks Junction. It opened its line in stages from 1862 to 1864. It never had enough money to operate properly, but the Midland Railway saw it as a means of reaching Swansea, and from 1869 the Midland Railway was given exclusive running powers over the HH&BR. There was then a long-running dispute over whether the Midland inherited rights of access previously granted to the HH&BR.
Worcestershire Parkway is a split-level railway station where the Cotswold and Cross Country lines cross near Norton, Worcester, England. It opened on 23 February 2020.
The Birmingham station group is a station group of three railway stations in Birmingham city centre, consisting of New Street, Moor Street, and Snow Hill. The station group is printed on national railway tickets as BIRMINGHAM STNS and does not include the international station of Birmingham International, which is located some 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) east of the city centre next to Birmingham Airport and National Exhibition Centre.