the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company line north-eastbound to Stafford.
All three branches closed to passengers in the early 1960s;the Coalbrookdale line was the first to go in July 1962,that to Market Drayton and Nantwich followed in September 1963[4] and the Stafford line almost exactly a year later under the Beeching cuts in 1964. Services to Birmingham Snow Hill,via Wolverhampton Low Level,finally ended in March 1968;a year after the ending of through trains to London Paddington via this route,with trains henceforth diverted to the ex-LNWR Wolverhampton High Level and onwards to Birmingham New Street over the Stour Valley Line.[5]
The station was formerly home to a small three-road engine shed and a coaling plant,which was originally designated WLN under the GWR from 1939-1949;then,under British Railways,it received the shed code 84H betwen 1950 and 1963. It became shed 2M for one year and was closed on 10 August 1964. A car park now occupies the site. Two of the locomotives which were allocated to the shed over its lifetime are preserved;those being LMS Ivatt 2MT no. 41241 and GWR 5700 no. 7754,at the Keighley &Worth Valley Railway and the Llangollen Railway respectively.
The town of Wellington was designated as part of the new town of Telford in the 1960s. As Telford did not have initially have its own railway station at first,the station was renamed Wellington –Telford West to indicate that it now served the new town. After Telford Central opened in 1986,Wellington eventually reverted to its original name,although this did not happen for a number of years.[6]
At its peak,the station had six platforms in operation;As of June 2024[update],it has only three:two through platforms and one bay platform.[7] Platform 3,the remaining bay platform,is now out of regular use following the withdrawal of the Wellington to Walsall local service. It is only semi-regularly visited by track maintenance or cleaning units,but sees very rare use by regular services in emergencies.
A track maintenance unit in platform 3
A disused bay platform can be seen directly adjacent to platform 3,which has been transformed into a small garden by volunteers. Traces of another former platform face can be seen from the car park behind platform 1;this is the outer side of an upisland platform.
In late 2009-early 2010,the station was refurbished by London Midland.
Former services
Until March 1967,Wellington was served by the GWR,latterly British Rail Western Region,express services between London Paddington and Birkenhead Woodside;these were withdrawn upon the commissioning of the electrification of the West Coast Main Line.
Through trains to Walsall were withdrawn in December 2008.[11] These recommenced in May 2019,following an introduction of two early morning services a week starting at Walsall and continuing to Shrewsbury. They were operated as extensions of the Shrewsbury to Birmingham Line. This replaced the former Liverpool Lime Street service. However,in December 2019,following problems with services and disruptions,the service was withdrawn once again.
Facilities
The station has a ticket office on platform 2 that is staffed part-time. A ticket vending machine is provided on platform 1. There are canopied waiting areas on both sides,with toilets adjoining the booking hall on platform 2. Train running information is offered via automated announcements,CIS displays,timetable poster boards and a help point on both platforms. Step-free access is part available to all platforms.[12]
In 2024,a small restaurant opened on platform 2.
Services
A West Midlands Railway service to Birmingham New Street calls at Wellington
Wellington is served by two train operating companies;they provide the following general off-peak services in trains per hour/day (tph/tpd):
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
0.182 million
0.470 million
