Oakengates railway station
Oakengates 
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| 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 |
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| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2011/12 |
 52,214 |
| 2012/13 |
53,154 |
| 2013/14 |
54,620 |
| 2014/15 |
 54,410 |
| 2015/16 |
55,830 |
| History | |
| Key dates | Opened 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. | |
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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 primarily provided by London Midland from Monday to Saturday with Arriva Trains Wales providing a Sunday service. Virgin Trains (West Coast) do not currently call at Oakengates station.
Between Oakengates and Telford Central is the 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.
An accident occurred at the station on 11 September 1877 when a Great Western train, the 7:40 am from Shrewsbury, arrived at Oakengates station on time at 8:09 am. Its locomotive, no. 153, then exploded due to a boiler failure. The explosion killed the driver, Anthony Robson Potter, and injured several others.
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Wikipedia