History
Historically, Chester General station was a joint station between the Chester and Holyhead Railway, the Chester and Crewe Railway and the Birkenhead Railway. Later these became the London and North Western Railway and the Great Western Railway (GWR). The joint station dates from 1848, replacing at least two earlier termini of the railway companies concerned.
Architecturally the station has an Italianate frontage designed by Francis Thompson. The station also has carved wooden owls at some strategic locations high in the roof beams to help deter feral pigeons.
GWR and latterly BR Western Region express passenger trains operated from Birkenhead Woodside via Chester, Wrexham, Ruabon, Gobowen, Shrewsbury, Wellington (Salop), Wolverhampton, Birmingham Snow Hill, Leamington Spa and Banbury to London Paddington station until the electrification of the West Coast Main Line in 1967.
From 1875, Chester was also served by Chester Northgate station (owned by the Cheshire Lines Committee); however, that station was closed in 1969 and is now the site of a leisure centre.
In 1972, the Chester General rail crash occurred in the station, causing severe damage to the building and the several trains involved.
In 1993, Chester became the terminus of one of the four Wirral Line branches of the Merseyrail network, using third rail electrification and providing frequent rapid access along the Wirral to Birkenhead and all four underground stations in central Liverpool. The historic Chester and Birkenhead Railway, the first railway to serve Chester, is thus now a branch of Merseyrail's Wirral Line.
Read more about this topic: Chester Railway Station
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