The Welsh Marches Line (in Welsh: Llinell y Mers), known historically as the North and West Route, is the railway line running from Newport in south-east Wales to Shrewsbury in the West Midlands region of England by way of Abergavenny, Hereford and Craven Arms and thence (by some definitions) to Crewe via Whitchurch. The line thus links South Wales to north-west England via the Welsh Marches region, bypassing Birmingham. Through services from South West Wales, Swansea and Cardiff to Manchester (hourly in each direction) and from Cardiff to Wrexham, Chester, the North Wales Coast and Anglesey (every two hours in each direction) constitute the bulk of passenger operations on the route.