Welshpool railway station

{{for multi|the railway station in Western Australia|Welshpool railway station, Perth|former station in Victoria, Australia|Welshpool railway station, Victoria}}

{{Infobox station

| name = Welshpool

| native_name = {{langx|cy|Y Trallwng}}

| symbol_location = gb

| symbol = rail

| image = File:The old station at Welshpool (geograph 2299927).jpg

| borough = Welshpool, Powys

| country = Wales

| coordinates = {{coord|52.657469|N|3.139947|W|type:railwaystation_region:GB|display=inline,title}}

| grid_name = Grid reference

| grid_position = {{gbmapscaled|SJ229072|25|SJ229072}}

| manager = Transport for Wales

| platforms = 2

| code = WLP

| classification = DfT category F1

| years = 14 August 1860

| events = opened

| years1 = 18 May 1992{{cite web |url=http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/w/welshpool_1st/index.shtml |website=Disused Stations |title=Station name: Welshpool 1st |last=Wright |first=Paul |date=26 May 2017 |access-date=17 April 2025}}

| events1 = Original station closed and new station opened on track realignment.

| mpassengers =

{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2019/20 |passengers={{decrease}} 165,724}}

{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2020/21 |passengers={{decrease}} 33,782}}

{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2021/22 |passengers={{increase}} 98,128}}

{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2022/23 |passengers={{increase}} 140,554}}

{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2023/24 |passengers={{increase}} 155,906}}

| footnotes = Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

}}

Welshpool railway station serves the town of Welshpool ({{langx|cy|Y Trallwng}}), in Powys, mid-Wales. It is a stop on the Cambrian Line between {{rws|Shrewsbury}} and {{rws|Machynlleth}}. The station was first opened in August 1860, but was resited a short distance away in May 1992 to allow for track realignment on the same day that the original closed.

History

=Original station=

File:Welshpool station geograph-2527374-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg-designed GWR 4300 Class 2-6-0 no. 7309 exits the locomotive depot at Welshpool in 1957]]

Built by the Oswestry & Newtown Railway, the original station opened on 14 August 1860. The line was initially operated by the London & North Western Railway before being absorbed by the Cambrian Railways, which became part of the Great Western Railway at the grouping that came into effect on 1 January 1923.

Midland Counties Dairy bought and operated the creamery at Cilcewydd. A siding from the station gave access for milk trains to the creamery.

About 100 metres north of the station were exchange sidings with the narrow gauge Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway, which opened for freight traffic in 1903. They closed in 1956, with a separate station serving passenger traffic until 1931. By 2017, the only remains are part of the cattle dock which has mixed gauge track embedded into concrete track bed.

The station building is extant and has been converted into a shop and café; all other remains of this station and the site of the railway were obliterated by the construction of the new A483 road.

=Present station=

File:View of Welshpool Railway Station, Powys, Wales.jpg

There was some severe rationalisation of services under the Beeching cuts in the 1960s, with the old Cambrian main line to {{rws|Whitchurch|Shropshire}} via {{rws|Oswestry}} closed to passengers in January 1965; most local stations towards {{rws|Aberystwyth}} following suit later that year. Two of the four platforms at the old station were later taken out of use. Subsequent development of the A483 road Welshpool bypass, which opened in July 1993,{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1993/jul/26/welshpool-bypass |website=Parliament.uk Hansard |title=Welshpool bypass |date=26 July 1993 |access-date=17 April 2025}} required the railway line to be shifted to the south. To enable this, the original station was closed and a new single island platform was constructed by British Rail north of it, to allow realignment in May 1992.

The replacement station platform is reached by a pedestrian bridge crossing both the railway and the A483, with long uncovered inclines to the north and stepped access from the south. The original station building can still be seen across the road.

Facilities

There are no facilities beyond a ticket vending machine, small shelter, bench seating, passenger information displays and a customer help point; though the National Rail Enquiries station page does have directions to a local travel agent with National Rail ticketing facilities.{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/WLP/details.html |title=Welshpool (WLP) station information |website=National Rail Enquiries |access-date=17 April 2025}}

The passing loop was later extended southwards to {{convert|2.5|mi}} to allow for an hourly train service and to reduce the impact of delays on the line.

Services

Transport for Wales operates trains westwards to {{rws|Machynlleth}}, which then split to {{rws|Aberystwyth}} and {{rws|Pwllheli}}; eastbound services travel to {{rws|Shrewsbury}} and {{rws|Birmingham International}}.

There is a basic two-hourly service each way on weekdays and Saturdays, with additional hourly Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth services at peak times. On Sundays, there is a two-hourly service on the Shrewsbury - Aberystwyth axis, but only a limited service along the coast to/from Pwllheli (three per day in summer and one in winter).{{Cite web |title=Timetables |work=Transport for Wales |date=15 December 2024 |access-date=17 April 2025 |url=https://tfw.wales/service-status/timetables}}

{{rail line |previous={{rws|Newtown|Powys}} |next={{rws|Shrewsbury}} |route=Transport for Wales
Cambrian Line|col={{KAW colour}} }}

{{rail line two to one |next={{rws|Buttington}}
Line open, station closed |route1=Cambrian Railways
Oswestry & Newtown Railway |previous1={{rws|Forden}}
Line open, station closed |col1={{Cambrian colour}} |route2=GWR and LNWR joint
Shrewsbury and Welshpool Railway |col2={{GWLNW colour}} }}

{{s-text|text=Walking connection with Welshpool Raven Square on the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway}}