Hereford railway station

History

There were originally two stations in Hereford: Barton and Barrs Court.

lay to the west of the city and had been built by the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway (NA&HR). However, Barton was small and in a cramped location; it was not big enough nor could it be enlarged for the greater traffic that would entail from the arrival of the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway from the north.

The resolution was an agreement to create a new joint railway station to the north-east of the city, called Hereford Barrs Court. This would be a joint standard gauge/broad gauge station, sponsored jointly by the standard-gauge Shrewsbury & Hereford Railway (S&HR) and the GWR-sponsored Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway (HR&GR). When the Midland Railway sponsored Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway entered the town, they were given access rights, as was the later Worcester and Hereford Railway, which joined the S&HR's route to the north of the city at Shelwick Junction.

In the civil engineering preparation for this, and as the only company planning to enter the town from the north, the S&HR built a brick works north of Dinmore Hill in 1849, which was fed by clay from the earthworks of digging a tunnel south underneath it. In 1852, years later and having used million bricks the tunnel was completed, freight traffic started in July 1852 to provide cash flow. However, construction continued, with the massive earthworks for a cutting to enter Barrs Court started in August 1852.

The plan was to jointly open both stations between all four railways on 6 December 1853, with what was planned to be a Railway Fete. However, the first S&HR passenger service arrived at Barrs Court on Saturday 28 October, which carried the chairman Mr Ormsby-Gore and engineer Thomas Brassey. Whilst completion of the station would follow shortly after, significant rebuilding would occur later in the nineteenth century, when the current Victorian Gothic buildings, designed by R.E. Johnson, would be constructed. The station opened on 6 December 1853 and the name was simplified to Hereford in 1893, on the closure of Barton station to passengers.

The clock by J. B. Joyce & Co was installed on the frontage in 1857.

In 1866, a line connecting the NA&HR's route to the south of the city, branching off from the line to Barton at Redhill and joining with the HR&GR's route into Barrs Court station from the south, rendered Barton station obsolete, as through north–south services could now utilise the larger and better equipped Barrs Court station. However, Barton clung onto passenger services until January 1893, the last services to use it being Midland Railway trains to and . It would remain open as a goods-only station until 1979; the route through it from north to south was used as a goods-only line to avoid Barrs Court, also remained until approximately this time.

The former branches to Brecon via Hay-on-Wye and Gloucester both closed to passenger traffic in the early 1960s; Brecon services were withdrawn from 31 December 1962, whilst the Gloucester via line fell victim to the Beeching Axe on 2 November 1964.

The station was designated a Grade II listed building in 1973.

Facilities

The station is staffed seven days a week, with a ticket office, café, waiting rooms and self-service ticket machines available. There is a 146-space car park and 50 spaces for bicycles.

It was accorded Secure Station status in 2004 and automated ticket barriers have been in operation since 28 February 2006.

Services

Hereford is served by three train operating companies:

• Great Western Railway operates 4 tpd (trains per day) to , via
• Transport for Wales operates 1 tph (trains per hour) between and , of which 1 tp2h runs further to . In addition, 1 tp2h runs between Cardiff Central and
• West Midlands Trains runs 1 tph to .

On Sundays, the service to Birmingham New Street is reduced to 1 tp2h, the service to London Paddington is reduced to 3 tpd and the service to Holyhead is reduced to 2 tpd.

Hereford to Birmingham |col1= Hereford to Dorridge |col2= Cotswold Line |col3= }}

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

References

1. "Hereford and the railways". Archenfield.com.
2. "Cavalcade of a century, 1832-1932, 100 years of the Hereford Times". Hereford Record Office - BH74.
3. (27 January 2007). "Hereford Barrs Court". The Railway Station Gallery.
4. (6 March 2006). "Full steam ahead at railway station". Hereford Times.
5. Butt, R.V.J.. (1995). "The Directory of Railway Stations". Patrick Stephens Ltd.
6. . (4 March 1857). ["New Clock at the Barr’s Court Station"](https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000398/18570304/021/0005). *Hereford Journal*.
7. (16 May 2016). "Herefordshire through time".
8. link. (2 February 2017 ''Pastscape''; Retrieved 25 August 2016)
9. [http://www.ross-on-wye.com/index.php?page=ross_530The_Railway&pg=1 "Ross-on-Wye- The Railway, The Decline"]''Ross-on-Wye.com''; retrieved 25 August 2016
10. "Barr's Court railway station". [[Historic England]].
11. "Hereford (HFD) station information".
12. (29 January 2004). "Award for rail station". Hereford Times.
13. (15 December 2024). "Train Times". Great Western Railway.
14. (15 December 2024). "Timetables". Transport for Wales.
15. (15 December 2024). "Train timetables and schedules". West Midlands Railway.