Bere Alston railway station

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Bere Alston National Rail
265px
Looking west towards the junction
Location
Place Bere Alston
Local authority West Devon
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Grid reference SX440674
Operations
Station code BAS
Managed by Great Western Railway
Number of platforms 1
DfT category F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2002/03 37,944
2004/05 Decrease 29,552
2005/06 Decrease 27,263
2006/07 Decrease 26,866
2007/08 Increase 28,936
2008/09 Increase 32,454
2009/10 Increase 36,272
2010/11 Increase 41,666
2011/12 Increase 44,792
2012/13 Decrease 42,128
2013/14 Decrease 38,762
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
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Bere Alston from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
Portal icon UK Railways portal

Bere Alston railway station is an unstaffed halt situated near the village of Bere Alston in Devon, England, Lua error in Module:Convert at line 452: attempt to index field 'titles' (a nil value). north of Plymouth on the branch to Gunnislake.

The survival of the route is almost entirely because Bere Alston, Bere Ferrers, and Calstock are situated in an area which for geographical reasons has relatively poor road connections.

History

Beer Alston station was opened for passenger traffic on 2 June 1890 by the Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway as an intermediate station on that company's line from Lydford to Devonport,[1] which – being in effect an extension of the London and South Western Railway's main line from London Waterloo station to Lydford, enabling the LSWR to reach Plymouth independently of the Great Western Railway – was immediately leased to the LSWR. Bere Alston station was 220 miles and 15 chains (354.35 km) from Waterloo.

The station was renamed "Bere Alston" in 1898.[2]

On 2 March 1908 it became a junction, with the opening of a branch line to Callington Road.[3] The PDSWJR became part of the Southern Railway in 1923 and British Railways on 1 January 1948.

The line from Lydford to Bere Alston was closed on 6 May 1968, which left just the Gunnislake service running through from Plymouth and reversing at Bere Alston. The line from Plymouth was reduced to just a single track on 7 September 1970 and the junction changed to allow the train guard to operate the points.

On 18 March 2008 Devon County Council backed a proposal by developers Kilbride Community Rail to construct 750 houses in Tavistock that includes reopening the Lua error in Module:Convert at line 452: attempt to index field 'titles' (a nil value). line from Bere Alston to a new Tavistock railway station at a cost of £18.5million.[4] There have also been proposals put forward to reopen the entire route through to Okehampton and Exeter St Davids as a diversionary/relief route to maintain the rail link between Plymouth and Cornwall and the rest of the UK should the coastal main line via Dawlish be blocked by bad weather, as was the case in early 2014.[5]

Gallery

  • Bere Alston station, Devon, 1930.jpg
    Bere Alston in 1930.
  • Bere Alston railway station 1972579 ddf00a12.jpg
    The station in 1964
  • Bere Alston railway station, Devon, 1970.jpg
    Bere Alston with a Gunnislake branchline train in 1970.
  • Bere Alston station, Devon, 1970.jpg
    A view of the station in 1970.

Services

File:Bere Alston 150127.jpg
The driver changes ends ready to continue his journey towards Gunnislake.

Bere Alston is served by trains on the Tamar Valley Line from Gunnislake to Plymouth. Connections with main line services can be made at Plymouth. In 2014 there are nine services each way on Mondays to Fridays, eight on Saturdays and five on Sundays.[6]

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Calstock   Great Western Railway
Tamar Valley Line		   Reversal
Bere Ferrers    
Disused railways
Bere Ferrers   Southern Region
Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway		   Tavistock North

Community railway

The railway from Plymouth to Gunnislake is designated as a community railway and is supported by marketing provided by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership. The line is promoted under the "Tamar Valley Line" name.

The Edgcumbe Hotel in Bere Alston village is part of the Tamar Valley Line rail ale trail, which is designed to promote the use of the line.[7] The line is also part of the Dartmoor Sunday Rover network of integrated bus and rail routes.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ "Storm-hit Dawlish: Where could a second rail line run?" Gallagher, Neil; BBC News article 12-03-2014; Retrieved 2014-03-28
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership (2006), Tamar Valley Line Rail Ale Trail

External links

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