Oakengates railway station

Oakengates railway station serves the town of Oakengates, Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. It has two platforms.

Rail services are primarily provided by West Midlands Trains with Transport for Wales providing a service on late evenings through the week, and a limited service on Sundays.

Between Oakengates and Telford Central is the Oakengates Tunnel.

Oakengates Tunnel

This tunnel was a major problem in the construction of the railway, delaying the project by three years between 1846 and 1849. Details of the difficulties, including unseasonable weather, are contained in a report dated 21 August 1848 from Robert Stephenson, Consulting Engineer, and William Baker, the Shropshire Union Railway Engineer. Originally built for broad-gauge railways, this tunnel is the only one on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton line and the longest of the three railway tunnels presently in use in Shropshire, stretching 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.

Services

Oakengates is typically served Monday to Sunday by one train per hour in each direction between Birmingham New Street and Shrewsbury via Wolverhampton, with some extra trains at peak times on weekdays. These services are operated by West Midlands Trains under the 'West Midlands Railway' brand using Class 196 DMUs. Transport for Wales serves the station with one train per day to Shrewsbury (single direction) after midnight. This train is the last northbound departure of the day.

References

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2014). Stafford to Wellington. Middleton Press. figs. 70-73. ISBN 9781908174598. OCLC 913791564.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2009). Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury. Middleton Press. figs. 87-90. ISBN 9781906008444. OCLC 286385795.

External links

• Train times and station information for Oakengates railway station from National Rail
• History of the Railway
• Locations from Steam Index

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1. Oakengates
2. Oakengates Market Street railway station
3. Telford
4. Shrewsbury railway station
5. Telford Central railway station
6. OKN
7. Oswestry railway station
8. Ketley
9. Wellington railway station (Shropshire)
10. West Midlands Trains
11. Church Stretton railway station
12. All the Stations
13. Hadley railway station
14. Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway
15. Ludlow railway station
16. UK railway stations – O
17. Kinnerley Junction railway station
18. Stanwardine Halt railway station
19. Llynclys South railway station
20. Rail transport in Shropshire