Baschurch railway station

Baschurch railway station was a minor station located about ten miles north of Shrewsbury on the GWR's Paddington to Birkenhead main line. Today this is part of the Shrewsbury to Chester line. The station building (now a private house) can be seen on the west side of the line adjacent Baschurch level crossing; it was designed by Thomas Mainwaring Penson.[2]

Baschurch
Bascurch station in 1962
General information
LocationBaschurch, Shropshire
England
Coordinates52.7985°N 2.8474°W / 52.7985; -2.8474
Grid referenceSJ428226
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyShrewsbury, Oswestry and Chester Junction Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Western Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Key dates
12 October 1848Station opens
12 September 1960Closed to passengers
5 July 1965Closed to goods[1]

Historical services

Express trains did not call at Baschurch, only local services.

According to the Official Handbook of Stations the following classes of traffic were being handled at this station in 1956: G, P, F, L, H & C and there was a three-ton crane.[3]

Although the station was closed the line has continued in use for through trains.

Accidents and incidents
  • On 13 February 1961, an express passenger train was in collision with a freight train that was being shunted at the station. The accident was due to a signalman's error. Three people were killed and two were injured.[4]

Campaign for reopening

In September 2009, a local group was formed to campaign for the station to be reopened. An initial public meeting was attended by 250 people, and Arriva Trains Wales the franchise operator for the line agreed to re-examine the feasibility of trains stopping at Baschurch.[5][6]

As of October 2011 the campaign continued, with the commissioning of new research into the feasibility of the reopening proposal. Funding for the study was declined by Shropshire Council, but campaigners aimed to fund it themselves.[7]

In 2023 the local MP, Helen Morgan told parliament there was still support locally for reopening and urged Minister of State for Transport, Huw Merriman, to take this up.[8]

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Oldwoods Halt   Great Western Railway
Shrewsbury to Chester Line		   Stanwardine Halt

See also

References
  1. Clinker, C.R., (1978) Clinker’s Register of Closed Stations, Avon Anglia ISBN 0-905466-19-5
  2. Newman, John; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2006), Shropshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 134, ISBN 0-300-12083-4
  3. 1956, Official Handbook of Stations, British Transport Commission
  4. Earnshaw, Alan (1991). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 7. Penryn: Atlantic Books. p. 39. ISBN 0-906899-50-8.
  5. Writtle, Joanne (2009). "Villagers' plea to reopen station". BBC Midlands Today.
  6. Garvin, Jo (2009). "New life for railway station?". BBC News, Shropshire.
  7. Shropshire Star Baschurch rail campaigners to pay for expert study (21 October 2011)
  8. "Minister urged to support reopening Baschurch railway station". BBC News. Retrieved 24 April 2023.

Further reading
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2010). Shrewsbury to Chester. Middleton Press. figs. 15-20. ISBN 9781906008703. OCLC 495274299.
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