Cefn Station 2014 Proposal

Cefn Station as it once was before closure in 1960……..and the Beaching Era…..

The PKC Group actively supports the reinstatement of a Railway Station back in the Cefn and would suggest the most appropriate place would be adjacent to Tesco’s car park. This is the most central location for the entire community and is well served by busses traveling along the new Oxford Road past Tesco.

 

A train station at the centre of Cefn would bring more traffic back into the Cefn by both public and private transport as well as being within walking and cycling distance for a large section of our community, for services to Wrexham, Chester and Holyhead to the North and Shrewsbury, Birmingham, Cardiff and London to the South. Virgin is bidding to be start a new direct service from Shrewsbury to London in 2015 and it is not inconceivable that this will eventually be extended to Chester via our line in the future. There are funding opportunities for shovel ready projects to build new railway stations and all that is really required for the Cefn is a simple double platform much as it once was.

 

Local bus services can be coordinated with the train times to maximise the public transport sector which would only serve to increase use. The station would provide a reliable transport link for our local people to seek work in other areas and also to provide a means of bringing people to our community so boosting our tourist potential. A station at Cefn Mawr at the centre of the Cefn is a win-win project and one that we should be seeking assistance with from the Welsh Government. The Welsh Government is currently seeking worthwhile rail infrastructure projects and this is surely one of the better ones. A station at the centre of the Cefn will be a station in the middle of the Pontcysyllte World Heritage site rather than peripheral to it, and opens up many new opportunities for us in the Cefn.

The PKC Group suggests the best site for a new railway station in Cefn would be adjacent to the Tesco Car Park as shown above.

Dyfrbont Pontcysyllte Class 67 Bo-Bo Locomotive

The Dyfrbont Pontcysyllte Class 67 Bo-Bo diesel electric mainline locomotives of the Wrexham & Shropshire Service before with drawl in 2011. This was a sad loss but hopefully a replacement service will be up and running in the future. In the mean time we need to get our own station on line or we will literally miss the train! There were also two other locomotives called Thomas Telford and The Shropshire Lad, click on the image for more information on these Locomotives.

The mighty Cefn Viaduct leading to Cefn Mawr and what could be the new Cefn Station.

 

Cefn Station and the plain facts for such:

 

  • Excluding Wrexham, the Cefn including Trevor and Froncysyllte which the Cefn Station would also serve is the largest community on the Chester to Shrewsbury Railway Line and yet we do not have a Railway Station?
     
  • Cefn Mawr at the centre of Cefn is also in the middle of the Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site.
     
  • The community of Cefn easily outnumbers that of Ruabon, Chirk or Gobowen that do have stations.
     
  • The community of Cefn represent the largest number in the Pontcysyllte World Heritage site outnumbering Llangollen and Chirk combined.
     
  • This has the potential of putting a main line railway station in the middle of a World Heritage Site which is then easily accessible from Cardiff, London, Birmingham and Birmingham International Airport.
     
  • The five above facts alone will ensure that outside Wrexham General the Cefn Station would be the next busiest, if not the busiest station on the line, between Chester and Shrewsbury.

 

Let’s pull together and get the Welsh Assembly to give us some assistance on this.

Insider Information or just what’s in the papers, these are real news stories that can literally pass us by or we could join in with, for the benefit of our community. It is up to us what we do, the most likely outcome, if we do nothing, is nothing.

 

BBC News North East Wales 19th June 2014

Wrexham to Chester £44m rail line upgrade starts

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-27923130

 

BBC News 5th November 2013

Virgin renews bid for Shrewsbury to London direct rail service

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-24827337

 

Daily Post 3rd October 2013

Arriva Trains Wales £44m agreement with Network Rail for second track upgrade between Wrexham and Chester is given the go ahead for delivery by spring 2015

www.dailypost.co.uk/.../44m-give-key-wrexham-chester-rail-6130901

 

BBC News 2 Oct 2013

£44m revised program for Wrexham to Chester rail project going ahead following negotiations with Network Rail.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-24367386

 

Rail.co.uk 10th May 2012

Rail Passenger Journeys across Great Britain Reach Record Levels According to Official Statistics Just Released and journeys between England and Wales increased by 6.7% reaching 8.5 million journeys which is the highest number recorded by ORR for such……

http://www.rail.co.uk/rail-news/2012/record-level-passanger-journeys/

 

Also see the PKC News Pages for even more info on this subject.

 

Who wants the job of getting a meeting set up with Richard Branson?

 

Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site & Cefn Station

Cefn Mawr and where Cefn Station could be at the centre of the Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site with the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, The Cefn Viaduct and the A483 Viaduct in view taken on a lazy summer’s day in 2010.

The History of Cefn Station

 

Cefn Railway Station was a minor railway station on the Great Western Railway's London to Birkenhead main line via Birmingham, serving the mining village of Cefn Mawr in Wales. It was opened on 12 October 1848 for passenger service and continued in use for one hundred and twelve years until closed on the 12 September 1960. Although express trains to London via Birmingham did not stop at Cefn the station was well served by West Midlands & Shrewsbury to Wrexham & Chester local trains. The two nearest stations on the same line were once Rhosymedre Halt to the north and Whitehurst Halt to the south.

What future of Cefn Station?

 

The PKC Group believe that trains are a key transport system to the future regeneration of the economy of the Cefn in North East Wales. A new station central to Cefn Mawr would provide a much needed transport link for the area allowing further access to higher employment areas such as Chester and Dee Side to the North and Shrewsbury, Welshpool and beyond to the South, without adding to the problems on the A483 and A5. This will reduce the congestion on trunk roads that are already full to capacity at peak hours while minimising carbon emission.

 

Secondly, if an Express Service was reinstated to London as suggested on the main GWR page of this website then the Cefn, Ruabon & Chirk Railway Stations could provide direct access to the London Tourist market for the whole of the WHS Corridor. This could increase the tourist count dramatically for the area if marketed correctly. People talk of tourism for Wales; however this is a real key.

 

Rhosymedre Hault

Rhosymedre Hault on the Great Western Railway line
Rhosymedre Halt on the former Cehester Ruabon Shrewsbury GWR Line

Rhosymedre Halt

 

Although the Ruabon – Shrewsbury railway was built in 1848, a number of halts were added later. Rhosymedre Halt was a minor railway station on what became GWR’s line, to the north of Cefn Mawr. The station was opened in 1906 and had two platforms. The railway passed through Rhosymedre in a deep cutting which necessitated the building of three bridges, Under Church Street, Chapel Street and High Street, all within a distance of about one hundred yards. The halt was of more service than Cefn Station for the people of Acrefair, Cefn and Rhosymedre and over the years served many passengers.

 

The station was eventually closed in 1959 and heralded the oncoming Beeching Cuts. Other closures included Johnstown, Cefn and Whitehurst and unfortunately the Ruabon to Barmouth railway line was eventually closed and ripped up, causing a great loss to the local communities along its route.



Whitehurst Halt

 

Whitehurst Halt was a small railway station with two platforms located about a mile and a half north of Chirk in Wales, immediately on the north side of the 46-yard long Whitehurst Tunnel where the line passes under the London to Holyhead A5 trunk raod. It was opened originally in 1848 as the Llangollen Road Halt but was renamed in 1906 as the Whitehurst Halt remaining in service until 1960.

The new age of the train is coming, let’s get on it!

Cefn Station
A simple proposal for the reinsatment of a Railway Station at Cefn Mawr in the Cefn at the center of the Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site in North East Wales.
Cefn Station.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [1.3 MB]