A statue of "the world's greatest railway builder" is planned for outside Chester Railway Station.

Throughout the 19th century, Thomas Brassey became a prolific railway contractor, responsible for building one third of all railway lines in the United Kingdom by the time of his death in 1875, and one in 20 of all railway lines in the world.

Now the Thomas Brassey Society is hoping to install a statue that will help Chester better recognise the pioneering achievements of the man who was born in Buerton (Aldford) in 1805.

A heritage statement submitted as part of the planning application to Cheshire West and Chester Council acknowledges there is a bust of Thomas Brassey in Chester Cathedral, commemoration plaques at Chester Railway Station, and two streets named after him in the city, but currently there are no statues dedicated to him.

The statement says: "He deserves to be better recognised as the world’s greatest railway builder.

"How better to achieve this ‘heritage’ objective than by erecting a statue of the man in front of the station he built in his home city?"

Thomas Brassey's first job was as the manager of Storeton Quarry on the Wirral, but after being persuaded by fellow industrious figure Thomas Telford to help in surveying for the A5 London-Holyhead trunk road in North Wales, his first railway project was the construction of the Penkridge Viaduct on what is now the West Coast main line.

He banked at the Chester bank of Dixons & Wardell (which later became NatWest Bank) in Northgate street, and the heritage statement adds that at his peak, he had more money going through the bank than in the treasuries of most small European countries.

Chester railway Station was built by Thomas Brassey to the design of Francis Thomson, and opened in August 1848, along with many of the railway lines still in use today – Shrewsbury-Chester, Chester-Crewe, Chester-Holyhead, and part of Chester-Birkenhead.

The proposed statue would feature Thomas Brassey, in his 40s, at the time when he completed the station, reading a map of the Shrewsbury-Chester rail route. It would be cast in bronze, at slightly larger than life size, standing alongside a piece of contemporary railway also cast in bronze. He would be facing Station Road, so visitors arriving from the station would see him as a side profile on the pavement.

A short inscription on the statue base would explain the pioneering figure's significance.

The proposed sculptor would be Andy Edwards, who created the statue of the four Beatles at Pier Head, Liverpool.