Chester railway station

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This article is about the railway station in England. For the station in Pennsylvania, see Chester Transportation Center.

Chester railway station is a railway station in the city of Chester, England. It is currently operated by Arriva Trains Wales, although Merseyrail, Northern Rail and Virgin Trains also run services there. It is situated to the north-east of the city centre. It was previously known as Chester General station.

[edit] History

Historically, Chester General station was a joint station between the Great Western Railway and the London and North Western Railway. The station dates from 1848, having an Italianate frontage designed by Francis Thompson. The station also has carved wooden owls at some strategic locations high in the roof beams to help deter feral pigeons.

From 1875, Chester was also served by Chester Northgate station (owned by the Cheshire Lines Committee); however, this station was closed in 1969 and is now the site of a leisure centre.

In 1972, a train crash occurred in the station, causing severe damage.

[edit] Services

Chester lies on the North Wales Coast Line, which is served by between one and three trains an hour operated by Arriva Trains Wales. Trains may start from Crewe or Manchester Piccadilly and continue to Llandudno, Bangor or Holyhead, although some trains start from or terminate at Chester. Virgin Trains run services from London Euston via the West Coast Main Line to the North Wales Coast Line. Virgin recently announced plans for an hourly service from Chester to London, with a service, every other hour, running beyond Chester to Holyhead and the remaining services terminating at Chester, whether this will involve electrifying the line beyone Crewe remains to be seen.

Arriva Trains Wales also operate the Shrewsbury to Chester Line, with trains to Shrewsbury approximately every 1-2 hours. Many trains continue beyond Shrewsbury to Birmingham New Street, although some continue to Cardiff Central. Chester is also the terminus of a branch of Merseyrail's Wirral Line from Liverpool and Birkenhead, and the Mid-Cheshire Line from Manchester Piccadilly via Northwich.

There is also speculation that, with the possible re-opening of the Halton Curve, that another train to Liverpool Lime St. Station, originating on the North Wales Coast Line or Wrexham, could run through Chester and Liverpool South Parkway. There are also rumours of the possibility of a line from Chester to York, running through Leeds as well.

Most of the platforms are not electrified, but Platform 7, which Merseyrail services run from has third rail electrification.

In mid 2005, Arriva Trains Wales announced a plan to improve the condition of the station, as Chester General had been well known for its poor condition. The planned modifications include improvements to ticketing facilities, a general clean up of the platforms, and the installation of ticket barriers. The first of these improvements to be implemented was the ticket barriers, which came into operation July 2006.

[edit] Gallery

Platforms on the railway station.

Distance board found in some disrepair on a station wall.

Carved wooden owl above platform 4 at Chester Railway station

[edit] External links

• Train times and station information for Chester railway station from National Rail
• Street map and aerial photo of Chester railway station from Multimap.com
• Station information from Merseyrail
• Garry Brookes Railway Photography
• Railway Clearing House Diagrams (diagram of railways in Chester from 1903)