Members of the Chester Shrewsbury Rail Partnership recently visited Gobowen Railway Station to see the progress made with upgrade work.

The visit comes after the group held its annual general meeting recently at Oswestry Railway Station and re-elected Councillor David Bithell of Wrexham County Borough Council as chairman.

Also elected as vice-chairman was Cllr Jackie Allen in her position as board director of Severn Dee Travel, who run the booking office at Gobowen Station.

Prior to their meeting members of the partnership visited Gobowen Station to see first-hand the work that is being undertaken with Oswestry Station Building Trust, Severn Dee travel and the Rail Partnership.

Two years ago, under a successful Community Right to Bid, the buildings at the station were purchased by the trust to ensure they would be a community asset for years to come.

Members saw the work on the empty unit on platform two including the installation of an air source heating system.

Roger Date of the trust explained the next phase of the restoration and discussed establishing potential funding that they could access. He also gave details of the proposal to run a community rail service from Gobowen Station through to the orthopaedic hospital.

The group believes the light rail service would assist many that visit the hospital daily.

They were shown around the booking office where they were introduced to more refurbishment plans and the plans of the refurbishment of the waiting room and cafe, financed through a series of grants including a successful grant application to the Transport for Wales (TfW) Rail Services Challenge Fund.

Cllr Bithell welcomed TfW rail services to the partnership and said: “The partnership now enters a new phase and we are encouraged by the enthusiasm and commitment of TfW Rail services to community rail.

“Our business plan for the next few years will ensure our stations are gateways to the area and we will be working with various partners to deliver these.”