How the railways grew
The Crewe and Shrewsbury line’s success showed other operators the importance of access to Crewe, particularly for linking with routes to Wales and to Manchester and the North. The Oswestry, Ellesmere and Whitchurch Railway (the OE&WR) was first proposed in 1860. Following ferocious arguments between competitors LNWR and GWR, Parliament authorised building the line in August 1861. The first phase was restricted to the Whitchurch-Ellesmere section, with the onward section to Oswestry held over for a year in case of new GWR route developments.
Facilities at Whitchurch were expanded to allow for trains using the new line, and intermediate stations were built at Fenn’s Bank, Bettisfield and Welshampton. The first public passenger service left Ellesmere for Whitchurch on 4th May 1863, and construction of the Ellesmere-Oswestry section was completed one year later.