Liskeard railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Liskeard | |||
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|---|---|---|---|
| Location | |||
| Place | Liskeard | ||
| Local authority | Caradon | ||
| Operations | |||
| Managed by | First Great Western | ||
| Platforms in use | 3 | ||
| Annual Passenger Usage | |||
| 2004/05 ** | 0.232 million | ||
| History | |||
| 4 May 1859 15 May 1901 |
Opened Looe branch opened |
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| National Rail - UK railway stations | |||
| Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Liskeard (source) | |||
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Liskeard station serves the town of Liskeard in Cornwall, it is the junction for the branch to Looe. The railway station has an unusual layout, trains to Looe leave from a separate platform at a right angle and to the north of the main station with an access road between them. The station retains semaphore signalling worked from a signal box at the Plymouth end of the westbound platform.
The station is in a deep cutting with the large Liskeard viaduct just to the east. At the west end the line dips down and bears left past the site of the old goods shed and on to another large viaduct at Moorswater.
The Isambard Kingdom Brunel-designed booking office is next to the road and there is step-free access to all platforms. Trains towards Plymouth use the platform nearest the booking office, those towards Penzance are across the footbridge. The station is operated by First Great Western.
To reach the town centre, turn right outside the station.
It is one of the stations served by the Night Riviera sleeper service.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Cornwall Railway
The station opened with the Cornwall Railway on 4 May 1859. It was described at the time as occupying "an elevated position nearly a mile to the south of the town", the main building "stands considerably above the rails, the descent to which is by a long flight of steps, which will be hereafter, we understand, entirely covered in. The building is of stone, having a large verandah projecting over the road. On the opposite side of the line is the arrival station, which is also a stone erection; and to the south of this, is the goods shed, which is a timber structure, having warehouses and offices at the ends".
Traffic at the new station was sufficient to warrant additional goods sidings before the end of the year. There is no evidence that the steps from the booking office were ever covered, instead they were replaced with a slope in 1866.
[edit] Looe branch
A railway had run to Looe from Moorswater, in the valley west of Liskeard, since 27 December 1860. On 25 February 1901 the Liskeard and Looe Railway was extended up to the Great Western Railway station, this extension line opening to passengers on 15 May 1901.
The Liskeard and Looe Railway arrived at right angles to the main line at a dedicated platform with its own buildings. Trains start their journey by travelling northwards, away from Looe. They swing round towards the south, descend gradients as steep as 1 in 40 to pass below the Liskeard Viaduct, swing back towards the north, and then reverse at Coombe Junction for the remainder of their journey to Looe. In the days of steam locomotives, there was an extended stop at Coombe to enable the locomotive to run around to the front of the train when reversing direction. If someone just missed a train leaving Liskeard for Looe, it was possible to run down the hill to Coombe and pick up the train from there.
A connection in the goods yard allows goods trains and empty carriages to be exchanged between the main line and the branch.
[edit] Later history
The Cornwall Railway was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway on 1 July 1889 and the Liskeard and Looe Railway did the same on 1 January 1923. The Great Western Railway was nationalised into British Railways from 1 January 1948 which was in privatised in the 1990s.
The station was modernised in 2004. A brick extension to the original Brunel-designed building was replaced by a light and airy glass structure. This work was entered into annual National Railway Heritage Awards in 2005 and won the Network Rail Partnership Award.
[edit] Accidents
Two unusual accidents have occurred at Liskeard due to its elevated position. Luckily no one was hurt in either incident.
In April 1863 a goods train was incorrectly sent into a siding where it collided with some wagons standing there. The impact sent these through the buffer stops and over the edge of the embankment.
On 15 June 1906 five empty carriages ran away from the branch platform during shunting operations. They ran down the gradient to Coombe Junction and along the line to Moorswater where they ran into the shed, knocking down the shed wall.
[edit] Further reading
- 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 East Cornwall, Alan Bennett, Runpast Publishing, Cheltenham 1990, ISBN 1-870754-11-5
[edit] External links
- Train times and station information for Liskeard railway station from National Rail
- Street map and aerial photo of Liskeard railway station from Multimap.com
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Menheniot * or Plymouth |
First Great Western Great Western Main Line |
Bodmin Parkway | ||
| Plymouth | Virgin Trains Cross-Country Route |
Bodmin Parkway | ||
| Terminus | First Great Western Looe Valley Line |
Coombe * or St Keyne |
||
| St Germans | South West Trains very limited service |
Bodmin Parkway | ||
| * Not all trains call at this station | ||||
| Railway stations in Cornwall and West Devon | |
|---|---|
| Great Western Main Line: | Penzance • St Erth • Hayle • Camborne • Redruth • Truro • St Austell • Par • Lostwithiel • Bodmin Parkway • Liskeard • Menheniot • St Germans • Saltash • St Budeaux Ferry Road • Keyham • Dockyard • Devonport • Plymouth |
| St Ives Bay Line: | St Erth • Lelant Saltings • Lelant • Carbis Bay • St Ives |
| Maritime Line: | Truro • Perranwell • Penryn • Penmere • Falmouth Town • Falmouth Docks |
| Atlantic Coast Line: | Par • Luxulyan • Bugle • Roche • St Columb Road • Quintrell Downs • Newquay |
| Looe Valley Line: | Liskeard • Coombe • St Keyne • Causeland • Sandplace • Looe |
| Tamar Valley Line: | Plymouth • Devonport • Dockyard • Keyham • St Budeaux Victoria Road • Bere Ferrers • Bere Alston • Calstock • Gunnislake |
| Heritage Railways | |
| Bodmin & Wadebridge: | Bodmin Parkway • Colesloggett Halt • Bodmin General • Boscarne Junction |
