The new town of Telford was designated in the 1960s, but until the 1980s it was served only by two railway stations which predated it, Oakengates and Wellington, although Wellington was at one stage renamed "Wellington-Telford West" to indicate that it was located in the new town. The line through Telford also boasted a further station in the form of New Hadley Halt between Oakengates and Wellington until 1985. The situation changed in May 1986, when Telford Central opened. The new station was equipped with full-length platforms to accommodate inter-city trains, and a large car park, which took advantage of the station's location next to the M54 motorway to provide a park and ride facility. The £700,000 cost was jointly funded by British Rail, the Telford Development Corporation and Shropshire County Council. The station and car park were built on the former Hollinswood sidings that served the Lilleshall Company and local industry.
Facilities
The station is staffed all week, with the ticket office open Monday - Saturday 06:00 - 19:00 and Sunday 10:00 - 17:00. A ticket machine is provided in the booking hall for use outside these times and for the collection of pre-paid tickets. A coffee kiosk, photo booth and toilets are also located in the main building on platform 1, whilst platform 2 has bench seating and a waiting shelter only. CIS displays, automatic announcements and timetable posters provide train running information. Step-free access is available to both platforms.
Services
Currently, the Monday-Saturday off-peak service comprises three trains per hour in each direction. One, operated by Transport for Wales, runs between Birmingham International and Shrewsbury, with alternate trains continuing to Aberystwyth & or Holyhead via. The other trains are West Midlands Railway services between Shrewsbury and Birmingham New Street, with one calling at all stations between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton and the other a limited stop semi-fast express. Sunday services consist of an hourly fast service operated by Arriva Trains Wales and an hourly stopping service, operated by West Midlands Trains. There is also a once a day service to London Euston and Shrewsbury operated by Avanti West Coast. Although the station was built to accommodate inter-city trains to/from London Euston, British Rail services ceased in the early 1990s and Virgin Trains West Coast withdrew a short-lived, daily service between Shrewsbury and London in 2000. A new company, Wrexham & Shropshire, reintroduced express services on 28 April 2008; these were withdrawn on 28 January 2011. In December 2014, Virgin Trains re-introduced two daily services to and from London Euston. Passenger numbers using the station annually exceeded the 1 million mark for the first time in the 2011-12 financial year.
