Cosford railway station is a railway station which serves the village of Cosford in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, England. It also serves

RAF Cosford Royal Air Force Cosford or RAF Cosford (formerly DCAE Cosford) is a Royal Air Force station near to the village of Cosford, Shropshire, England just to the northwest of Wolverhampton and next to Albrighton. It is a training station, home to ...

which is also home to a branch of the

Royal Air Force Museum The Royal Air Force Museum is a museum dedicated to the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. The museum is a non-departmental public body and is a registered charity. It has two public sites, Royal Air Force Museum London and Royal Air Fo ...

. The station is served by

West Midlands Trains West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a British train operating company. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trading names: within the West Midlands region as West Midlands Rai ...

, who manage the station, and

Transport for Wales Transport for Wales (TfW; ; ) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consisting of itself and its subsidiaries: Trans ...

. Between 2008 and 2011 it was also served by the direct London operator,

Wrexham & Shropshire Wrexham & Shropshire (legally ''Wrexham, Shropshire & Marylebone Railway Company Limited'') was an open access operator that provided passenger rail services in the United Kingdom. Services between Wrexham General railway station, Wrexham Gen ...

History

The line between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton was opened as a through route in November 1849. Cosford station was opened much later than other stations on the line when the decision was taken to site an RAF base there just before the start of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Originally the station was known as Cosford Aerodrome Halt, but due to wartime security concerns, this was shortened to just ''Cosford'' in 1940. Trains originally ran to Wolverhampton Low Level and the GWR main line to eastbound, but were diverted to Wolverhampton High Level and the ex-LNWR Stour Valley line to

Birmingham New Street Birmingham New Street, also known as New Street station, is the largest and busiest of the three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the British railway system. It is a major destination for Avanti ...

in 1967.

2011-12 reconstruction

The station was closed to passengers from 29 October 2011 until 30 April 2012.Shropshire Star
Cosford railway station reopens after six-month refit (30 April 2012) Costing £2.1 million, Network Rail replaced the wooden 1937 station buildings as well as the platforms, which were constructed from century-old wood railway sleepers with the new platforms made from glass reinforced polymer, and the stairs leading up to them. Its re-opening was delayed by five weeks. The redevelopment has been criticised for a lack of disabled access.

Signal box

The most recent Cosford signal box stood a little to the west of the station. As well as forming a

block post A block post in railway signalling is the signal box at one end of a block section. German practice In Germany, block posts are known as ''Blockstellen'' (abbreviation: ''Bk'') and are defined as railway facilities on the open line that mark the ...

this signal box controlled entrance and exit to up and down refuge loops and the previous rail connection into the adjacent RAF site from the up refuge loop. It has been abolished as a result of the 2006 resignalling scheme with control passing to Madeley Junction. Much of the redundant signalling equipment has been distributed to various heritage railways, the

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWR, GWSR or Gloucs-Warks Steam Railway) is a volunteer-run heritage railway which runs along the Gloucestershire/Worcestershire border of the Cotswolds in England. The GWSR has restored and reo ...

is believed to have received the majority. This structure is thought to have been the last signal box constructed by the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

in Shropshire. Much of the contents and structure of this 1939 constructed signalbox has been salvaged for reuse on another heritage railway. The remaining brickwork was demolished in the small hours of Sunday 21 October 2007. Remarkably, the signalman's portacabin style privy remains in-situ as of late August 2008. The advent of longer trains destined for

Ironbridge Power Station The Ironbridge power stations (also known as the Buildwas power stations) refers to two power stations that occupied a site on the banks of the River Severn at Buildwas in Shropshire, England. The Ironbridge B Power Station was operated by E.ON ...

resulted in much reduced used of the refuge loops as they were too short to accommodate the length of coal trains that were in use until the closure of the power station in 2015.

Services

Cosford is typically served Monday to Saturday by one train per hour in each direction between and via , with extra trains at peak times on weekdays. These services are operated by

under the 'West Midlands Railway' brand using British Rail Class 196 DMUs. One

service calls per day after midnight, westbound only to Telford and Shrewsbury. Sunday services are hourly calling at all stations, with an additional nighttime Transport for Wales service heading eastbound to Wolverhampton on Sundays only. Additional services run on the second Sunday in June when the RAF Cosford Air Show is being held.

References

External links