Ludlow railway station

This article is about the railway station in England. For Ludlow station in New York, see Ludlow station (Metro-North).

Ludlow
General information
LocationLudlow, Shropshire,
England
Coordinates52°22′16″N 2°42′58″W / 52.371°N 2.716°W / 52.371; -2.716
Grid referenceSO513750
Managed byTransport for Wales
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeLUD
ClassificationDfT category E
History
Opened1852
Passengers
2020/21 65,540
 Interchange  297
2021/22 0.200 million
 Interchange  1,638
2022/23 0.235 million
 Interchange  822
2023/24 0.238 million
 Interchange  970
2024/25 0.271 million
 Interchange  477
Location
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Ludlow railway station serves the market town of Ludlow, in Shropshire, England. It lies on the Welsh Marches Line between Shrewsbury 27 miles 42 chains (44.3 km) to the north[1] and Hereford. It is the fourth busiest station by passenger numbers in Shropshire after Shrewsbury, Telford Central and Wellington. The station is located on Station Drive, 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) to the north-east of the town centre.

History

The station opened on 21 April 1852, as the southern terminus of the first section of the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway. Trains travelling to or from the south of the station pass through the short Ludlow Tunnel (192 yards (176 m) long), which passes under Gravel Hill and has its tunnel entrance immediately south of the platforms. A quarter of a mile to the north of the station was Clee Hill Junction, where a branch line ran to the quarries in the nearby Clee Hills, to the east of Ludlow, from 1864 to 1962.

The engine shed closed in 1951 and the goods yard on 6 May 1968. In the late 1960s, the Victorian buildings at the station were demolished and the last signal boxes closed.

Stationmasters

  • Hugh Morgans from 1852[2] (formerly goods manager at Conwy)
  • Charles Allen ca. 1854 - ca. 1860
  • Richard Edwards ca. 1864 - ca. 1871
  • Martin Charles Tidmarsh ca. 1877 - 1882[3] (later stationmaster at Hereford)
  • Henry Hughes ca. 1884 - ca. 1898
  • Arthur Frederick Stringer ca. 1903 - ca. 1921
  • Edward Harrington 1924 - 1932[4] (from 1902, goods agent at Ludlow; from 1924 both roles combined)
  • Henry Edward Jones 1932[5] - 1942
  • Arthur Parry from 1942
  • Wilfred Henry P Glaswardine 1949[6] - 1952 (formerly stationmaster at Welshpool)
  • Henry N. Duce ca. 1956

Accidents and incidents

  • At 3.15 am on 6 September 1956, a northbound parcels train, hauled by GWR 4300 Class 2-6-0 No. 9306, overran signals and ran into the rear of an express passenger train from Penzance to Manchester London Road[7] carrying 150 passengers, but caused no deaths and only one serious shock casualty. The passenger train had halted because a lorry that had crashed into a level crossing at Onibury station had blocked the track.[8]

Facilities

There are two platforms — platform 1 is the northbound platform (for Shrewsbury) and platform 2 is the southbound platform (for Hereford). There is level access to the ticket office and platform 1, the footbridge can now be reached by a recently installed lift from that platform. Level access to platform 2 is via a ramp down from Quarry Gardens, which also provides a ramp to the platform from the footbridge. A long path also provides a level access route that runs over the tunnel entrance between the platforms.

Facilities include a staffed ticket office (where railway-related books and light refreshments are available to buy), car parking, small weatherproof platform shelters, and an accessible adapted toilet.[9]

The station is served by Ludlow's two frequent town bus services, the 701 and 722.[10]

The goods shed (on the former goods yard that closed in 1968) adjacent to the railway line to the north of Station Drive is now home to the Ludlow Brewery. It has been renovated and is open to the public, with information on local railway history.[11]

Services

Passenger services are currently provided by Transport For Wales. The standard off-peak weekday service in trains per hour is:[12]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Leominster   Transport for Wales
Welsh Marches Line 		  Craven Arms or Shrewsbury
Hereford   Transport for Wales
Premier Service 		  Shrewsbury

See also

References

  1. ^ Yonge, John; Padgett, David (August 2010) [1989]. Bridge, Mike (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 3: Western (5th ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. map 27A. ISBN 978-0-9549866-6-7.
  2. ^ "Tribute of Respect". Caernarvon & Denbigh Herald. England. 20 March 1852. Retrieved 21 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ^ "Ludlow. Appointment of Station Master". Eddowes’s Journal, and General Advertiser for Shropshire and the principality of Wales. England. 8 November 1882. Retrieved 21 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "Ludlow Stationmaster". Kington Times. England. 9 January 1932. Retrieved 21 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Railway Appointments". Kington Times. England. 4 June 1932. Retrieved 21 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Posted". Western Mail. England. 11 May 1949. Retrieved 21 August 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ Hall, Stanley (1990). The Railway Detectives. London: Ian Allan. p. 119. ISBN 0-7110-1929-0.
  8. ^ "'Miracle' of disaster where there were no deaths". Shropshire Star. 21 May 2016. p. 20.'Nostalgia' special report by Toby Neal.
  9. ^ "Ludlow station information". National Rail Enquiries. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  10. ^ "Ludlow, adjacent to Railway Station: bus services". Bustimes.org. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  11. ^ WhatPub.com (CAMRA) Railway Shed, Ludlow
  12. ^ "Timetables". Transport for Wales. 18 May 2025. Retrieved 29 October 2025.

Further reading

  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2008). Shrewsbury to Ludlow. Middleton Press. pp. 115–120. ISBN 9781906008215. OCLC 520487698.
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