Much Wenlock and Severn Junction Railway

At the end of 1861 the MW&SJR had entered into a 10-year agreement with the GWR who would provide and operate all the trains, supply the staff and maintain the Wenlock branch. The Severn Valley Railway was leased and operated from the outset by the West Midland Railway (WMR) and, despite the GWR agreement, it was the WMR which provided the initial service of six trains in each direction between Buildwas and Much Wenlock. The WMR was amalgamated into the GWR on 1 August 1863.

While the MW&SJR was still under construction, a separate company, the Wenlock Railway (originally planned as the "Much Wenlock, Craven Arms and Coalbrookdale Railway") was authorised on 22 July 1861. This had two objectives, to extend southwards from Much Wenlock to join the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway near Craven Arms, and to extend northwards from Buildwas to Coalbrookdale in the Ironbridge Gorge. The northward extension opened on 1 November 1864, completing the route through to the north end of the Wellington to Craven Arms Railway. The southern section opened as far as Presthope the following month, enabling limestone to be transported from the Wenlock Edge quarries to the Coalbrookdale iron foundries. However delays in funding meant the southwards extension was not completed until December 1867. Services on both the MW&SJR and Wenlock Railway were worked by the GWR under an agreement dated 24 March 1864, and were vested in the GWR in 1896.

By the early 1930s passenger numbers were declining due to the growth in car usage and improved reliability of bus services. In response the GWR opened a series of unmanned halts along the Wellington to Craven Arms Railway. Farley Halt, between Buildwas and Much Wenlock, opened on 27 October 1934.