Tiverton Parkway railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tiverton Parkway | |||
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|---|---|---|---|
| Location | |||
| Place | Sampford Peverell | ||
| Local authority | Mid Devon, Devon | ||
| Coordinates | Coordinates: | ||
| Operations | |||
| Station code | TVP | ||
| Managed by | First Great Western | ||
| Platforms in use | 2 | ||
| Live departures and station information from National Rail | |||
| Annual Rail Passenger Usage | |||
| 2004/05 * | 0.202 million | ||
| 2005/06 * | 0.232 million | ||
| History | |||
| Key dates | Opened 12 May 1986 | ||
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |||
| * Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Tiverton Parkway from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. | |||
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Tiverton Parkway railway station is on the London to Penzance Line, 157.75 miles (253.87 km) from London Paddington station;[1] it is operated by First Great Western. The "Parkway" name signifies that the station is a distance from Tiverton town itself.; it is actually located near the village of Sampford Peverell in Devon, England, 7 miles (11 km) to the east of Tiverton itself, and close to the junction of the M5 motorway with the A361 North Devon link road.
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[edit] History
The Bristol and Exeter Railway opened on 1 May 1844 but it ran south of Tiverton, so a station known as "Tiverton Road" was opened to serve the town. This station was renamed "Tiverton Junction" on 12 June 1848 when the Tiverton branch line was opened to a station in the town itself.[2] By the 1980s the branch had closed and the Junction station only saw a couple of trains in each direction each day, while cars on the M5 sped past just a few yards from the platforms, so a decision was taken to relocate the station a short distance to the east, close to the motorway junction where traffic from Barnstaple and Ilfracombe from the A361 joined.
The new station was opened on the 12 May 1986 by David Mitchell MP, the Minister of Transport at the time.[3] It was built on the site of the former Sampford Peverell railway station that had closed on 5 October 1964.
An additional car park for the station was opened in late 2007 as the original car park was too small when FGW increased the services to the station. The additional car park is situated alongside the A361 road and requires a short walk to the station, while the original is alongside the platform.
[edit] Description
The main entrance and a large car park are on the west side of the station, where a single-storey brick building at platform level incorporates a ticket office and a shop selling newspapers, drinks and snacks. This is the platform for trains towards London Paddington, Bristol and the north.
Access to the platform for trains towards Exeter, Plymouth and Penzance is over a ramped footbridge. The buildings on this platform are two large metal and glass waiting shelters. The cycleway crosses the line on this footbridge and allows access on foot or cycle from the east side.
[edit] Services
The main line services through Tiverton are provided by two operators, First Great Western and CrossCountry. The former operates inter-city services on the London to Penzance Line[1] and the latter from Scotland and the north of England via Birmingham New Street and Bristol Temple Meads.[4] First Great Western also operate a few services to and from London via Bristol.
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taunton | First Great Western | Exeter St Davids | ||
| CrossCountry | ||||
[edit] Transport connections
The station is linked to both Tiverton and to Cullompton by hourly bus services that call at a bus stop in the station car park.
In addition to being situated close to the junction of the M5 motorway and the A361 North Devon link road, the National Cycle Network Route 3 (Bristol to Land’s End) passes through the station and provides a safe and quiet route to local towns.
The proximity of the station to the motorway - and the relative inaccessibility of Exeter St Davids railway station in the city of Exeter - means that it is often used as the 'coach exchange' when the line between Exeter and Plymouth is closed and rail passengers are detrained onto coaches for the remainder of the journey.
[edit] References
- ^ a b National Rail Timetable 135 (Winter 2007) (PDF). Network Rail.
- ^ MacDermot, E T (1931). History of the Great Western Railway, volume II 1863-1921. London: Great Western Railway.
- ^ Oakley, Mike (2007). Devon Railway Stations. Wimbourne: The Dovecote Press. ISBN 1-904349-55-6.
- ^ National Rail Timetable 51 (Winter 2007) (PDF). Network Rail.
