Wrexham General | |
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Welsh: Wrecsam Cyffredinol | |
Wrexham General railway station
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Location | |
Place | Wrexham |
Local authority | Wrexham County Borough |
Grid reference | SJ329508 |
Operations | |
Station code | WRX |
Managed by | Arriva Trains Wales |
Number of platforms | 4 |
DfT category | D |
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries |
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Annual rail passenger usage* | |
2011/12 | 0.622 million |
2012/13 | 0.615 million |
2013/14 | 0.591 million |
2014/15 | 0.552 million |
2015/16 | 0.538 million |
History | |
Key dates | Opened 1846 Rebuilt 1912 Cafe and new Platforms opened 2008 Platform 4 and footbridge rebuilt 2011 |
National Rail – UK railway stations | |
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Wrexham General from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
Wrexham General railway station (Welsh: Wrecsam Cyffredinol) is a main line railway station and the main railway station serving Wrexham, north-east Wales. It is currently operated by Arriva Trains Wales, but services are also provided by Virgin Trains who operate a service to London Euston. Until January 2011 Wrexham & Shropshire also operated from here to London Marylebone.
The station was first opened in 1846, later becoming part of the GWR network and expanded in 1912. It is one of three railway stations in the central area of the town, one now part of General, named Wrexham Exchange, the other being Wrexham Central. It is the main hub for inter-city services in the area, and as a result 78% of all rail journeys (2006/07) in Wrexham County Borough start or end at the station. It is also a major hub for inter-city services in North Wales.
Until the early 1980s what is now platform 4 of Wrexham General, serving the Wrexham Central – Bidston service, was a separate station: Wrexham Exchange.
In 1846 the first steam trains began the Railway Age in Wrexham. The line was originally called The North Wales Mineral Railway and was backed by local businessmen, among whom the developer of the steel works at Brymbo, Henry Robertson, is well known.
There have been two railway station buildings on the site. The first was the original was built by the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway in Jacobean style with Dutch gable pediments. The architect for that station was Mr Thomas Penson of Wrexham, who also designed the Shrewsbury and Gobowen stations. It was built on the edge of Wrexham, a town which at the time was heavily industrialised and had many coal mines and steelworks to attract the railway companies.