The first plan for the Bidston to Hawarden Bridge railway was put forward in 1883 by Wirral Railway, construction was authorised on 31st December 1885, but no work was carried out. In 1889 Wirral Railway powers were transferred to the Wrexham, Mold & Connah's Quay Railway.

The railway finally arrived in Upton five years after the first horse drawn omnibus. Upton station was opened in 1896, when the Wrexham Mold and Connahs Quay Rrailway was extended to Seacombe by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. The line opened for goods traffic on 16th March and for passengers on 18th May.

Shortly after the opening, the joint undertaking was known as the North Wales and Liverpool Railway.

 

As with many stations, Upton Station was situated some distance from the village, in fact just outside the township.

The station had a simple design, a booking hall was built on the overbridge, with brick built waiting rooms on each of the two platforms. At the far end of the Bidston bound platform was a signal box which controlled access to a goods and coal yard behind the Wrexham/Chester bound platform (now occupied by a Co-op supermarket).

The North Wales and Liverpool Railway lasted for only nine years as the line was taken over by the Great Central Railway in 1905.

At grouping in 1923 the line became part of the London and North Eastern Railway.

Trains ran to Seacombe via Bidston, where it connected with the Wirral Railway, in the northern direction and to Wrexham Central and Chester Northgate in the southern.

Following nationalisation in 1948, British Rail closed Seacombe station for passengers in 1951 and trains where rerouted, the northern terminus becoming New Brighton.

Chester Northgate station was closed in 1968, leaving Wrexham as the only southern terminus.

In 1971, the northern terminus was changed from New Brighton to Birkenhead North station, and then in 1978 the northern terminus was again changed, this time to Bidston.

Although Upton escaped the Beeching Axe, the station became an unmanned halt and the booking office, waiting rooms and other buildings where demolished in the early 1970s, ramps being built to provide access to the platforms from the road bridge.

Following de-nationalisation, the line was run by First North Western, who ran diesel multiple units to Bidston and Wrexham.

On 28th September 2003, 'Wales and Borders' (part of the National Express Group) took over operation of the line. The line is now operated by Arriva Trains Wales.

 
 

Railway Letter Service

 In 1891 the Railway Letter Act became law and new adhesive stamps, Railway Letter Stamps, were issued by those Railway Companies who were signatories to the Act. The Act laid down the colour and design of the Railway Letter Stamps and Regulations for the Conveyance of Railway Letters.

 The railway letter fee was fixed at twice the postage and a postage stamp had to be affixed as well to comply with the Post Office’s monopoly for the carriage of letters.