Classic route
Welsh Marches Line
Cardiff → Manchester · Wales · England
The great spine outside England’s trunk lines: Cardiff to Manchester up the castle-studded Welsh border through Abergavenny, Ludlow and Shrewsbury.
- Distance
- 290 km
- Fastest time
- ≈ 3 h 10 min
- Average speed
- 92 km/h
- Top speed
- 145 km/h
Stations
- 0 kmCardiff Central +6
- 19 kmNewport +2
- 30 kmCwmbran
- 50 kmAbergavenny
- 88 kmHereford +1
- 109 kmLeominster
- 126 kmLudlow
- 170 kmShrewsbury +3
- 223 kmCrewe +4
- 253 kmWilmslow +1
- 263 kmStockport +2
- 272 kmManchester Piccadilly +3
The stations OpenStreetMap lists for this service, in order, with the distance along the line as drawn here. A train may skip some of them. A +N after a station: N other routes on this map stop or end there, and the map draws it as a station where lines meet.
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 20636913: the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 5 m from it
- Checked against the running timetable via ÖBB Scotty: our line sits under 100 m from the shape of the scheduled train on this line
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Questions and answers
How long is the Welsh Marches Line?
The Welsh Marches Line runs 290 km from Cardiff to Manchester. It runs through Wales and England.
How long does the Welsh Marches Line take?
The fastest scheduled journey is ≈ 3 h 10 min for the 290 km. That is an average of 92 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 145 km/h.
Who runs the Welsh Marches Line?
Transport for Wales, with TfW Class 197.
How old is the Welsh Marches Line?
The line has been in service since 1853. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
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More train routes in United Kingdom · Wales · England.
Planning this trip? Journey time & direct trains: Cardiff → Manchester · Manchester → Cardiff.