Hopton Heath railway station in Hopton Heath, Shropshire, England, lies on the Heart of Wales Line, 25+1⁄2 miles (41.0 km) south west of Shrewsbury.
Hopton Heath  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The original station building and present-day platform, looking north. | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Hopton Heath, Shropshire England | ||||
| Grid reference | SO380774 | ||||
| Managed by | Transport for Wales | ||||
| Platforms | 1 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | HPT | ||||
| Classification | DfT category F2 | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 1861 | Opened | ||||
| 6 July 2020 | Temporarily closed | ||||
| 21 August 2021 | Reopened | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2019/20 |  924 | ||||
| 2020/21 | 28 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  346 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 724 | ||||
| 2023/24 | 1,292 | ||||
| |||||
The station is in a very rural area: the nearest sizeable settlement is Hopton Castle, and further afield the larger villages of Clungunford and Leintwardine, Herefordshire. 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.
The railway station is located below street level, to the south of the B4385 road bridge. The original station building is now private housing.[1] 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 platforms: 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.[2]
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.[3]
Access to the platform is via steps from the road bridge or alternatively via a level footpath (which cycles are also allowed to use) which runs south from the station to the "Ashlea Pools" holiday park entrance.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 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.[4]
Services
editThere are five southbound and six northbound trains a day from Monday to Friday, five each way on Saturdays and two on Sundays. This is a request stop, whereby passengers have to signal to the driver to board or alight from the train. A normal weekday service operates on most Bank holidays.[5]
All trains serving the station are operated by Transport for Wales.
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bucknell | Transport for Wales Heart of Wales Line |
Broome | ||
Bus service
editA local bus service (the 740, run by Minsterley Motors) calls near the station, which travels between Ludlow and Knighton and calls at the nearby villages of Bedstone, Clungunford and Leintwardine. Currently 3 buses per day call at Hopton Heath in each direction.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Hopton Heath railway station (2013) Archived 7 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine Thompson, Nigel Geograph.org.uk; Retrieved 26 July 2017
- ^ Waiting room at Hopton Heath station (2014) Archived 17 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine Winder, John Geograph.org.uk ; Retrieved 26 July 2017
- ^ Hopton Heath station facilities National Rail Enquiries
- ^ "Covid-19 timetable from 29 March 2021". 17 May 2021.
- ^ Table 130 National Rail timetable, December 2022
- ^ Arriva Archived 1 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine 738, 740
Further reading
edit- Organ, John (2008). Mitchell, Vic (ed.). Craven Arms to Llandeilo. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 16-18. ISBN 9781906008352. OCLC 648080889.
External links
edit
- Train times and station information for Hopton Heath railway station from National Rail