Par railway station

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Par
Location
Place	Par
Local authority	Restormel
Operations
Managed by	First Great Western
Platforms in use	3
Annual entry/exit 04/05	95,475 **
History
4 May 1859 1 January 1879 1 July 1968	Station opened Line to Newquay opened Line to Fowey closed
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
** based on sales of tickets in 2004/05 financial year which end or originate at Par. Disclaimer (PDF)

Par Station serves the village and port of Par, Cornwall, UK it is also the junction for the Atlantic Coast Line to Newquay. The station is operated by First Great Western as is every other station in Cornwall.

The line approaching Par descends an incline from Treverrin Tunnel. The booking office is on the platform for trains to St Austell, while a footbridge leads to a platform with two sides for the trains to Lostwithiel and Newquay. The main line climbs up as it leaves the station westwards, passing over Par Viaduct and Par Harbour.

[edit] History

The station opened with the Cornwall Railway on 4 May 1859. A newspaper reported at the time that it "is situated on the western side of Par bay, about a mile from the pier head, close to the road to Fowey and Tywardreath, the traffic of which places as well as St Blazey and the neighbourhoods intended to receive here. The departure and arrival stations are spacious edifices, both having verandahs projecting over the platforms, with convenient waiting rooms, ticket office, porter and lamp rooms, and other necessary conveniences. A goods station has not yet been erected, but considering the amount of business likely to be transacted here it is more than probable that a goods shed will be required before long."

The goods shed was approved by the directors on 10 February 1860 and was built of stone.

The station was too small to warrant a station master, but the "booking constable" was paid an additional 22 pounds each year by the Post Office to also act as a post master. Two cottages were built just outside the station to house railway staff.

A connection from Par to the Cornwall Minerals Railway line to Newquay was opened on 1 January 1879. This was standard gauge and so traffic between this and the broad gauge Cornwall Railway had to be transferred between trains at Par until the broad gauge was converted over the weekend of 21 May 1892. New station buildings were erected in 1884.

The Cornwall Railway was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway on 1 July 1889. The Great Western Railway was nationalised into British Railways from 1 January 1948 which was in privatised in the 1990s.

On 19 May 1968 an experimental Freightliner terminal was opened on the site of the now demolished goods shed. Containers were switched between rail and road vehicles; mainly china clay traffic was handled but this did not preclude other goods. It only lasted for a couple of years.

[edit] References

The records of the Cornwall Railway can be consulted at The National Archives at Kew.
West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, Railway Special Edition, 1859.
The Great Western Railway in Mid Cornwall, Alan Bennett, Kingfisher Railway Publications, Southampton 1988. ISBN 0-946184-53-4

[edit] External links

Train times and station information for Par railway station from National Rail
Street map and aerial photo of Par railway station from Multimap.com

British Railway Stations - Par

Preceding station		Following station
Bodmin Parkway or Lostwithiel *	First Great Western Great Western Main Line	St Austell
Bodmin Parkway or Lostwithiel *	First Great Western limited service	Newquay
Bodmin Parkway	Virgin Trains Cross-Country Route	St Austell
Bodmin Parkway	Virgin Trains limited summer service	Newquay
Lostwithiel	South West Trains very limited service	St Austell
Terminus or Bodmin Parkway	First Great Western Atlantic Coast Line	Luxulyan
* Not all trains call at this station