The station was built of blue bricks with stone decorations, and a large span overall
iron roof. There was a grand entrance hall with booking offices, railway company
offices, waiting and refreshment rooms. The very wide and long platforms
prevented overcrowding and allowed both up and down trains to arrive on the same
platform at the same time. The platforms were linked by an iron bridge.  All of this
was very different to the basic facilities that were on offer at the High Level station,
and many alterations and improvements took place in the intervening years. Some
of the more notable changes were:

1st April 1869  Conversion of the broad gauge track to standard gauge.

April 1899        The new carriage shed, sidings, and new signal boxes opened.

1902                 The footbridge was strengthened to withstand the increased
                         number of passengers going to the town's Art and Industrial
                         Exhibition.

1911                  Extensions to the south end of the Birmingham platform.

1922                 A new booking office with 5 ticket windows was built within
                         the booking hall, and a new telegraph department was added
                         to the stationmaster's office. Both platforms were extended
                         and the passenger footbridge was replaced. The overall roof
                         had corroded badly and so this was replaced with standard
                         GWR platform canopies.

March 1930    Electric lights replaced the old gas lighting. This didn't happen
                        until 20 years later at the High Level.

July 1944        2 ton electric goods lifts were added.

     
                                        The station as it was in 1856

The end was in sight with the West Coast Mainline electrification scheme which
included the Stour Valley Line and a new High Level station. It would be hard
to imagine a similar amount of investment being made in the GWR mainline which
to some extent duplicated the Stour Valley's route. From late 1963 to March
1967 the Low Level did see a large increase in traffic, but this was only while
the electrification work was in progress, when many services were temporarily
diverted. When the line reopened the GWR services were quickly reduced. The
last Paddington to Birkenhead express ran in March 1967, and a year later the
Shrewsbury services moved to the High Level. The station continued to be used
by local DMU's until March 1972.

In 1970 the station was converted to a Parcels Concentration Department at a
cost of £30,000. Much of the trackwork was removed, the north signal box was
demolished and the platforms were greatly modified. It opened on 6th April 1970
and was very successful, handling up to 8000 parcels each day. BR's policy on
parcel handling soon changed, and it was closed on 1st June 1981. The building
was listed as grade 2 on 25th March 1986. It remained as the British Rail
Divisional Engineer's Department until it was purchased by the town council in
May 1986. BR's staff left the building on 2nd May and on the 8th of the month a
task force which was part of the MSC's sponsored Community Program, took
over, and renovated the building's exterior. Many proposals have since been put
forward for possible uses for the building, which at present is still unoccupied.