Plymouth railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Plymouth | |||
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|---|---|---|---|
| Location | |||
| Place | Plymouth | ||
| Local authority | City of Plymouth | ||
| Coordinates | Coordinates: | ||
| Operations | |||
| Station code | PLY | ||
| Managed by | First Great Western | ||
| Platforms in use | 6 | ||
| Live departures and station information from National Rail | |||
| Annual Rail Passenger Usage | |||
| 2004/05 * | 1.519 million | ||
| 2005/06 * | 1.629 million | ||
| History | |||
| Key dates | Opened 1877 | ||
| History | |||
| 1938 | Rebuilding started | ||
| 1958 | "North Road" name dropped | ||
| 1962 | Rebuilding completed | ||
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |||
| * Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Plymouth from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. | |||
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Plymouth railway station serves the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. It is the largest of the six surviving railway stations in the city, and the only one served by InterCity trains. The station is situated to just to the north of the city centre, close to the North Cross roundabout. It is located on the London to Penzance Line 225.75 miles (363 km) from London Paddington station[1] and is operated by First Great Western and also sees the trains of CrossCountry and South West Trains.
Although opened in 1877, most of the present day station dates from a rebuilding completed in 1962. John Betjeman famously commented on them .in his introduction to 'The Book of the Great Western' published in the Sunday Times Magazine (1970):
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- Plymouth (North Road) dullest of stations and no less dull now it has been rebuilt in copybook contemporary.
Contents |
[edit] History
When the South Devon Railway opened its line to Plymouth on 2 April 1849,[2] it positioned its station at Millbay, on the site now occupied by the Plymouth Pavilions. In 1876 the South Devon Railway amalgamated with the Great Western Railway.[3]
The station here at Plymouth North Road was opened in 1877, providing a joint facility for Great Western Railway trains and those of the London and South Western Railway which had arrived in Plymouth the previous year. The station was built of wood and the platforms were fully covered by roofs.[4]
The station was just west of the earlier Mutley railway station, while at its west end a new junction allowed direct access to the Cornwall Railway and the London and South Western's Devonport Kings Road railway station.
It was renamed as just Plymouth from 15 September 1958 following the closure of the old London and South Western station at Plymouth Friary.[5]
Additional platforms had been added in a scheme executed in 1908, but further major rebuilding work started in 1938. This was delayed due to the Second World War. Rebuilding was resumed in 1956 and the new station with its large office block, Intercity House, was formally opened by Dr Richard Beeching, the British Railways Chairman, on 26 March 1962.[5][4] Intercity House was intended in the Abercrombie/Paton-Watson "Plan for Plymouth" to be the northern axis of Armada Way, counterbalancing the tower of the Civic Centre at the southern end.
The station car park was rebuilt in its current multistorey form about ten years later. The roof of the circulating area in front of the ticket office has also been replaced due to deterioration of the 1960s concrete and additional shops were added at this time.
Some of the former bay platforms were used for Royal Mail trains until the withdrawal of this traffic from the area in 2003.
Until December 2006 one coach of the Night Riviera was detached each morning from the train that ran overnight from London Paddington station, and then attached to the remainder of the train when it returned from Penzance that evening.
| Preceding station | Historical Railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mutley | Great Western Railway | Plymouth (Millbay) | ||
| Great Western Railway | Wingfield Villas | |||
| Mutley | London and South Western Railway | Devonport (Kings Road) | ||
[edit] Description
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The station has its entrance on the south (or city) side. The west side of the concourse is a ticket office selling tickets for travel on the day and in advance. On the north and east sides are various retail outlets selling food and newspapers. There is also a small buffet outlet between Platforms 7 and 8. The platform area is separated from the station concourse by ticket barriers.
Immediately inside the ticket barriers is a subway that leads to platforms 5 - 8, but platforms 1 - 4 are on the concourse level. There are lifts to the subway on each of the three blocks of platforms
Platforms 1 and 2 are east-facing bay platforms, not used by passenger trains. Platform 3 is a west-facing bay platform, mainly by local services to Gunnislake and sometimes Penzance.
The remaining platforms are through platforms and all signalled so that trains can arrive and depart in either direction. Platform 4, with level access from the concourse, is used by most through services towards Penzance, but also for some trains towards London. Platforms 5 and 6 are either side of the middle island platform and are used by a variety of services, including First Great Western local trains and long distance CrossCountry services. Platforms 7 and 8 are either side of a second island platform; there is a small coffee shop facing the subway steps on this platform. Most First Great Western High Speed Trains to London Paddington station depart from platform 7, but both these platforms are used by a variety of services from Cornwall towards London and the North as well as some local services.
Beyond Platform 8 is a pair of sidings used for stabling trains between services, but most trains are nowadays kept on the platform tracks between arrival and departure. There are some more sidings adjacent to platform 1. There is a third track between platforms 4 and 5 for through trains and shunting manoeuvres.
[edit] Services
Plymouth is served by First Great Western trains on the main line from London, some of which terminate at Plymouth but many continue over the Cornish Main Line to Penzance.[1] A number of prestigious named trains operate on this route:
- Night Riviera – overnight sleeping car service
- Golden Hind – Penzance to London early morning service and evening return
- Cornish Riviera – London to Penzance mid-morning service and afternoon return
- Mayflower – London to Plymouth mid-morning service and afternoon return.
- Royal Duchy – early afternoon London to Penzance and return.
There is also a limited service by South West Trains from London Waterloo station to Plymouth,[6] one of which continues to Penzance on Saturday and returns on Sunday. Most CrossCountry trains from Scotland and the North of England via Bristol terminate at Plymouth, although a number continue to Penzance in the evening and return the next morning.[7] On summer weekends some trains from Paddington and some from the North continue into Cornwall to serve Newquay.
Local services are provided by First Great Western along the Cornish Main Line and also on the Tamar Valley Line to Gunnislake.[8] A number of these continue eastwards on the London route to destinations such as Exeter St Davids.
As of December 2008, South West Trains services will no longer call at this station and all services will terminate at Exeter St Davids, also there will be an hourly Plymouth - Edinburgh Waverley CrossCountry service, with extensions to/from Penzance.
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ivybridge | First Great Western London to Penzance Line |
Devonport | ||
| Newton Abbot | First Great Western Night Riviera |
Liskeard | ||
| Ivybridge | South West Trains Limited Service |
Saltash | ||
| Terminus | First Great Western Tamar Valley Line |
Devonport | ||
| Totnes | CrossCountry | Liskeard | ||
[edit] References
- ^ a b National Rail Timetable 135 (Winter 2007) (PDF). Network Rail.
- ^ Gregory, R H (1982). The South Devon Railway. Salisbury: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-853612-86-2.
- ^ MacDermot, E T (1931). History of the Great Western Railway, volume II 1863-1921. London: Great Western Railway.
- ^ a b Smith, Martin (1995). An Illustrated History of Plymouth's Railways. Caernarfon: Irwell Press. ISBN 1-817608-41-4.
- ^ a b Oakley, Mike (2007). Devon Railway Stations. Wimbourne: The Dovecote Press. ISBN 1-904349-55-6.
- ^ National Rail Timetable 160 (Winter 2007) (PDF). Network Rail.
- ^ National Rail Timetable 51 (Winter 2007) (PDF). Network Rail.
- ^ National Rail Timetable 139 (Winter 2007) (PDF). Network Rail.
[edit] Further reading
- Beck, Keith (1990). The Great Western in South Devon. Didcot: Wild Swan Publication. ISBN 0-906867-90-8.
- Cooke, R A (1979). Track Layout Diagrams of the GWR and BR WR: Section 12, Plymouth. Harwell: R A Cooke.
- Pryer, GA. Signal Box Diagrams of the Great Western & Southern Railways, Volume 14: GWR Lines Plymouth and East Cornwall. Weymouth: GA Pryer. ISBN 0-953246-05-1.
[edit] See also
| This station offers access to the South West Coast Path | |
|---|---|
| Distance to path | 1 mile |
| Next station anticlockwise | Kingswear 65 miles |
| Next station clockwise | Looe 21 miles |
