Telford Central railway station

Telford Central railway station serves the new town of Telford, England. It is situated close to the town centre, the main commercial district of the town. It is located on the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line and is operated by London Midland.

History
The new town of Telford was designated in the 1960s, but until the 1980s it was served only by two railway stations which predated it, Oakengates and Wellington, although Wellington was at one stage renamed "Wellington-Telford West" to indicate that it was located in the new town. The line through Telford also boasted a further station in the form of New Hadley Halt between Oakengates and Wellington until 1986, its closure coinciding with the opening of the nearby Telford Central station.

The situation changed in May 1986, when Telford Central opened. The new station was equipped with full-length platforms to accommodate inter-city trains, and a large car park, which took advantage of the station's location next to the M54 motorway to provide a park and ride facility. The £700,000 cost was jointly funded by British Rail, the Telford Development Corporation and Shropshire County Council.

Services
Currently, the Monday-Saturday off-peak service comprises two trains per hour in each direction. One, operated by Arriva Trains Wales, runs between Birmingham International and Shrewsbury, with alternate trains continuing to Aberystwyth or Holyhead. The other trains are London Midland services between Shrewsbury and Birmingham New Street, which call at all stations between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton.

Although the station was built to accommodate inter-city trains to London Euston, these services no longer operate; British Rail services ceased in the early 1990s, and Virgin Trains withdrew a short-lived, trial, daily service between Shrewsbury and London in 2000. A new company, Wrexham & Shropshire, reintroduced express services (to London Marylebone) on 28 April 2008; these were withdrawn following the last train on 28 January 2011.

Passenger numbers using the station annually exceeded the 1 million mark for the first time in the 2011-12 financial year.