Oakengates railway station

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

Oakengates
General information
Location	Oakengates, Telford and Wrekin England
Grid reference	SJ696107
Managed by	West Midlands Railway
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	OKN
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Opened	1849
Passengers
2018/19	73,438
2019/20	68,862
2020/21	19,736
2021/22	47,932
2022/23	54,020
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

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.^[1]

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[2][3][4] These services are operated by West Midlands Trains under the 'West Midlands Railway' brand using Class 196 DMUs.^[5] 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.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Telford Central		West Midlands Railway Birmingham – Wolverhampton – Shrewsbury		Wellington
		Transport for Wales Birmingham – Chester Limited service

References

1. "Shropshire Canal". Oakengates History.
2. "'Major' rail changes in timetable overhaul". BBC News. 19 May 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
3. O'Brien, Lisa (13 March 2019). "New timetable includes later rail services between Shropshire and West Midlands". The Shropshire Star. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
4. "Train times | Shrewsbury to Birmingham New Street | 10 December 2023 until 1 June 2024". West Midlands Railway.
5. "Class 196 Fleet". West Midlands Railway.

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

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oakengates railway station.

• Train times and station information for Oakengates railway station from National Rail
• Locations from Steam Index

52°41′35″N 2°27′00″W / 52.693°N 2.450°W / 52.693; -2.450