Hopton Heath railway station in

Hopton Heath Hopton Heath, or Hoptonheath, is a hamlet in south Shropshire, England. The border with Herefordshire is close by. It lies on the border of the civil parishes of Clungunford and Hopton Castle. There is a railway station here - Hopton Heath ...

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 England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, lies on the Heart of Wales Line, south west of

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

. The station is in a very rural area: the nearest sizeable settlement is

Hopton Castle Hopton Castle is situated in the village of the same name which lies approximately halfway between Knighton and Craven Arms, in the English county of Shropshire. Hopton Castle featured in the TV series ''Time Team'' in 2010. A ruin since the ...

, and further afield the larger villages of

Clungunford Clungunford is a village and civil parish in south Shropshire, England, located near the border with Herefordshire. Village The village features St. Cuthbert's parish church. The River Clun flows just to the west of the village and can be cro ...

and

Leintwardine Leintwardine ( ) is a small to mid-size village and civil parish in north Herefordshire, England, close to the border with Shropshire. History Roman A popular misconception is that the Romans called the village ''Branogenium''. Branogenium i ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

. The station was for a number of years the least used National Rail station in Shropshire, but passenger numbers have increased and Broome is now the county's least used station. The station and line were constructed by the Knighton Railway and opened in 1861. Further construction and route openings in 1865 and 1868 subsequently put the station on a through route between Shrewsbury and

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

. The railway station is located below street level, to the south of the B4385 road bridge. The original station building is now private housing. Originally there were two tracks running through, but one has been lifted with the "singling" of the line between Craven Arms and Knighton in 1965. In addition to the main building, the station has retained its stone weighbridge hut next to the entrance. The station has two

platform Platform may refer to: Arts * Platform, an arts centre at The Bridge, Easterhouse, Glasgow * ''Platform'' (1993 film), a 1993 Bollywood action film * ''Platform'' (2000 film), a 2000 film by Jia Zhangke * '' The Platform'' (2019 film) * Pla ...

s: the original (but now disused) Shrewsbury-bound platform extends entirely to the south of the bridge; the remaining passenger platform (originally for Swansea-bound trains, but now used for all trains) extends under the bridge, though at present only the part to the south is usually used by passengers. A wooden waiting shelter is located on the platform, along with CIS display, customer help point and timetable poster board are provided to offer train running information. Access to the platform is via steps from the road bridge or alternatively via a level footpath (which

cycles Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in ...

are also allowed to use) which runs south from the station to the "Ashlea Pools" holiday park entrance. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, between 6 July 2020 and 21 August 2021, trains did not call at the station due to the short platform and the inability to maintain social distancing between passengers and the guard when opening the train door.

Services

There are four southbound and five northbound trains a day from Monday to Friday, four each way on Saturdays and two on Sundays. This is a

request stop In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a bus stop, stop or train station, station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or drop ...

, whereby passengers have to signal to the driver to board or alight from the train. A normal weekday service operates on most Bank holidays. All trains serving the station are operated by

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 ...

Bus service

A local

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

service (the 740, run by

Minsterley Motors Minsterley Motors is a bus and coach operator in Shropshire, England. The company's main operations concentrate on stage service and schools contract work for Shropshire Council. It also provides transport for the Shropshire Schools & Colleges F ...

) calls near the station, which travels between

Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...

and Knighton and calls at the nearby villages of

Bedstone Bedstone is a small village and civil parish in south Shropshire, England, close to the border with Herefordshire. The village is approximately from the railway stations at Hopton Heath and Bucknell and is situated just off the B4367 road. ...

, Clungunford and Leintwardine. Currently 3 buses per day call at Hopton Heath in each direction.Arriva
738, 740

References

External links

{{Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Railway stations in Shropshire DfT Category F2 stations Former London and North Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1861 Heart of Wales Line Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail Railway request stops in Great Britain 1861 establishments in England

Services

Bus service

See also

References

Further reading

External links