37-488: The St Ives Bay Line is a 4.25 miles (6.84 km) railway line from St Erth to St Ives in Cornwall , England, United Kingdom. It was opened in 1877, the last new 7 ft ( 2,134 mm ) broad gauge passenger railway to be constructed in the country. Converted to standard gauge in 1892, it continues to operate as a community railway , carrying tourists as well as local passengers. It has five stations including
74-721: A St Ives branch line as an extension of the West Cornwall Railway, although by that time this was controlled by the Great Western Railway . It was opened on 1 June 1877, the last new 7 ft ( 2,134 mm ) broad gauge passenger railway route to be built in Britain. A third rail was added to the southern section of the line in October 1888 to allow 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ) standard gauge goods trains to reach
111-487: A car park but seven years later, on 27 May 1978, a new station was opened at Lelant Saltings between St Erth and Lelant. This was given a large car park so that it could operate as a Park and Ride facility for St Ives. In June 2019, the Park and Ride facility was moved to St Erth and services at Lelant Saltings were reduced. The branch line is single track for its whole length with no passing places . It runs alongside
148-537: Is a foot crossing at Hawke's Point as the line approaches Carbis Bay. The St Ives Bay Line is one of the railway lines supported by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership , an organisation formed in 1991 to promote railway services in the area. The line is promoted by many means such as regular timetable and scenic line guides, as well as leaflets highlighting leisure opportunities such as walking, birdwatching, and visiting country pubs . A St Ives Bay Line rail ale trail
185-439: Is a single platform situated in a shallow cutting north of the road that leads down to the beach. It is on the left of trains arriving from St Erth. There is a small car park at the station entrance but a larger one is available a short distance away by the beach. All trains are operated by Great Western Railway . Most run between St Ives and St Erth half hourly, but some are extended through to Penzance . Carbis Viaduct
222-439: Is controlled from the signal box at St Erth ; only one train is allowed to operate on the line at any time. Trains travelling towards St Ives are described as 'down trains' and those towards St Erth as 'up trains'. There are three public crossings on the line. 'Western Growers Crossing' is a crossing at St Erth which the signaller can see from the signal box. 'Towan Crossing' is a user-worked crossing north of Lelant, and there
259-587: Is served by all Great Western Railway trains services on the Cornish Main Line between Penzance and Plymouth . Some trains run through to or from London Paddington station , including the Night Riviera overnight sleeping car service and the Golden Hind which offers an early morning service to London and an evening return. Other fast trains are the mid-morning Cornish Riviera and
296-706: Is situated at the east end of the station between the main line and the St Ives branch. It was opened on 10 September 1899 when the main line was doubled to Hayle and replaced an earlier box that dated from around the time of the opening of the St Ives branch. Semaphore signals still control movements around the station. The signal box also controls trains on the St Ives branch. St Erth sees more passengers change train than any other station in Cornwall. The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April. St Erth
333-494: Is under construction in 2018. A replacement footbridge with lifts is being installed to enable step-free access to the whole station. The work was due to be completed in spring 2024, but was later pushed back to the end of 2024. The original footbridge was dismantled in October 2024 and donated to the East Somerset Railway ; they plan to install it at Cranmore railway station by the end of 2025. The span of
370-478: The Department for Transport 's Community Rail Development Strategy. This aims to increase the number of passengers and reduce costs to make lightly used railways more economically sustainable. Among its aims are a higher-frequency of service, to introduce local tickets and ticket vending machines, and public art on the stations promoting the line as the artistic gateway to St Ives. From 2001 to 2011 journeys on
407-566: The Hayle estuary and then the sea coast and is promoted as a good place to see birds from the train. It has also been listed as one of the most picturesque railways in England. The line diverges from the Cornish Main Line at St Erth . After the line goes through a short cutting and underneath two road bridges which carry the A30 roundabout outside the station, the line follows the western side of
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#1732775656080444-571: The 106 yards (97 m) St Ives Viaduct to reach St Ives railway station which is situated above Portminster Beach. The line initially saw just five trains a day, but by 1909 this had grown to nine and in 1965 it was 17 with up to 24 on summer Saturdays. Some trains included through carriages from London Paddington station and in the 1950s the Cornish Riviera Express ran from St Ives through to Paddington on summer Saturdays. The number of services continued to increase following
481-474: The St Ives Bay Line increased by 68%. The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April. Download coordinates as: 50°11′40″N 5°27′01″W / 50.1945°N 5.4502°W / 50.1945; -5.4502 St Erth railway station St Erth railway station is a Grade II listed station situated at Rose-an-Grouse in Cornwall , United Kingdom. It serves
518-492: The St Ives bay platform. The booking office is staffed for part of the day and is located in the west-facing section which faces the station car park. The northern range incorporates staff accommodation as well as refreshment facilities which appeared in a list of the ten best station cafes published in The Guardian in 2009. Platforms 2 and 3 have a long canopy above them to protect passengers waiting for their train. At
555-612: The St Ives branch platform was the station goods yard and sidings which served a china clay dry for a few years. It then served milk trains from the Primrose Dairy creamery , later operated by United Dairies , although these were taken out of use in 1982. A camping coach was positioned here by the Western Region from 1953 to 1964, there were two coaches here for the last three years. The station buildings are constructed of granite in an 'L' shape west and north of
592-533: The afternoon Royal Duchy . Frequent services on the St Ives Bay Line are operated by Great Western Railway. A small number of these trains are extended from or to Penzance. There are a limited number of CrossCountry trains (3 per day each way) providing a service to Scotland in the morning and returning in the evening. On an average weekday St Erth sees up to 69 trains, 26 trains to St Ives, 22 towards Penzance and 21 towards Plymouth. This makes it
629-411: The busiest station in Cornwall in terms of services. Carbis Bay railway station Carbis Bay railway station ( Cornish : Porthreptor ) is on the St Ives Bay Line in Cornwall , England, United Kingdom and serves the village and beach of Carbis Bay , a community that only adopted this name after the arrival of the railway in 1877. Carbis Viaduct is situated on the St Ives (west) side of
666-453: The day, including Sundays. In the summer months when traffic levels are high, most services are now operated by 2 x two-car Class 150 sets, but in the winter a two-car Class 150 set is used. On particularly busy days additional sets are added; St Ives can handle six carriages but the bay platform at St Erth is long enough for just five. Two or three trains are extended to and from Penzance on most days to facilitate crew changes and to get
703-454: The estuary past Lelant Saltings . Beyond Lelant railway station the line enters a cutting and climbs onto the sand dunes above Porth Kidney Sands on St Ives Bay , with the church of St Uny and Lelant golf course on the left; the church's cemetery was disturbed when the railway cut through the hill. The South West Coast Path crosses the line here and then follows close by all the way to St Ives. The railway continues to climb up and onto
740-472: The junction with the Cornish Main Line at St Erth . The St Ives Junction Railway applied for an act of Parliament in 1845, but as the West Cornwall Railway failed in its application for an act in that session of Parliament, the St Ives company withdrew its proposal. The Great Western, Bristol & Exeter, and South Devon Railway Companies Act 1873 was passed by Parliament to authorise
777-493: The left over Western Growers Crossing towards the covered way beneath the A30 road . The Cornish Main Line towards Hayle drops gently to the right with the signal box situated between the two. The Down Sidings on the right of the main line are level and so are higher than the main line at the far end. In 2022, platform 3 was extended by 6 metres (20 feet) to allow it to accommodate a train with five carriages. The signal box
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#1732775656080814-461: The line has no passing loops and before May 2019, the average journey time along the full length of the line was just under 15 minutes, services on the line used to suffer from very short turnaround times (about 1 minute) at both St Erth and St Ives stations. As of May 2019, the journey time has decreased due to the majority of trains no longer stopping at Lelant Saltings. As a result, the turnaround time has been increased to roughly 4 minutes. The line
851-400: The nearby village of St Erth , which is about 0.75 miles (1.21 km) away, and is the junction for the St Ives Bay Line to St Ives . The station is 320 miles 78 chains (320.98 mi; 516.6 km) from the zero point at London Paddington measured via Box and Plymouth Millbay . The station was opened by the West Cornwall Railway on 11 March 1852. At this time it
888-419: The new footbridge, which weighed 50 tonnes (50,000 kg), was lifted into place by a 1,000-tonne (1,000,000 kg) crane in October 2024, with temporary staircases being used until permanent staircases are erected. The project provoked discussion: it was supported by local MP Derek Thomas and Connor Donnithorne, the cabinet member responsible for transport at Cornwall Council , while some residents opposed
925-438: The opening of Lelant Saltings and the summer of 2006 saw 26 daily services operated by Wessex Trains . Great Western Railway (train operating company) took over the operation later in the year and the winter timetable was reduced to 16 trains which caused some concern but the summer of 2007 saw a return to the previous service level. As of August 2016, trains run at approximately 30-minute intervals in each direction for most of
962-401: The plans. One local historian said that the station would be "losing a valuable asset", replaced by a poorly-designed "eyesore". Because the main line is on a falling gradient towards Hayle, at the buffer stop end of platform 3 a few steps are needed to connect platforms 2 and 3 but at the east end they are nearly level. Standing at this end of the station the line to St Ives curves away to
999-530: The sidings were taken out of use at St Ives by 1966, when trains on the branch were operated by diesel multiple units . The line was proposed for closure in the Reshaping of British railways report which prompted it to be one of the lines featured in Flanders and Swann ’s Slow Train , but Minister of Transport Barbara Castle reprieved it. On 23 May 1971, the platform at St Ives was moved to make way for
1036-510: The station. The station was opened by the Great Western Railway on 1 June 1877 on their new branch line from St Erth to St Ives . The railway needed a viaduct to cross the small valley that carried Carbis Water down to the Baripper Cove. It was decided to build a station on the east side of the valley and call it Carbis Bay. The location proved popular with visitors and the small farms around Wheal Providence mine expanded to become
1073-443: The steep cliffs at Hawkes Point, about 30 metres (98 ft) above sea level. Soon after the line comes around the headland at Carrick Gladden and into Carbis Bay . Perched on the hillside above the beach, this resort only developed after the railway arrived in 1877. The line now crosses 78 yards (71 m) long Carbis Viaduct then continues on the cliff's edge until it emerges at Porthminster Point, from where it drops down across
1110-419: The stock to and from Penzance Traction Maintenance Depot (TMD) . As of May 2019, there continues to be trains running every 30 minutes. All these services call at Carbis Bay with trains serving Lelant mostly every two hours with some hourly gaps between services. Lelant Saltings is now served by just one train per day in each direction due to the relocation of the Park and Ride facility to St Erth. Since
1147-537: The village of Carbis Bay, named after the station. The station buildings were at the top of the shallow cutting in which the station is built. Goods traffic was withdrawn in May 1956. In 1899, the former station master Richard James was sentenced to 14 days in Bodmin prison for begging after he had got into difficulty through drink and being found begging for alms. The station is 3 miles (4.8 km) from St Erth. There
St Ives Bay Line - Misplaced Pages Continue
1184-412: The west end of this is a covered footbridge which links with the main westbound platform for trains to Penzance, and a large wooden shelter is provided here. A small granite building further up the platform is for staff use. As with several other stations in Cornwall, small palm trees grow on the main platforms, both of which can accommodate seven-coach trains. In 2017, a new concourse and ticket office
1221-417: The wharf at Lelant . The last broad-gauge train ran on Friday 20 May 1892; since the following Monday all trains have been standard gauge. Although there was heavy traffic in fish in the early years, this declined during the first half of the twentieth century. Goods traffic was withdrawn from the intermediate stations at Lelant and Carbis Bay in May 1956 but continued at St Ives until September 1963. All
1258-412: Was known as St Ives Road and was the railhead for that town, which lies about 4 miles (6.4 km) to the north. This was an important harbour with a busy fishing trade and tin and copper mines; the new railway brought it artists and then tourists. The station was a simple single platform situated on the north side of the line. On 1 June 1877 a branch line was opened from here to St Ives, which
1295-476: Was launched in 2005 to encourage rail travellers to use the railway and visit 14 participating pubs near the line. During the period that Wessex Trains operated the service (2001-05), one of their Class 153 trains carried the name St Ives Bay Line and a blue livery with large coloured pictures promoting the line. The branch was designated as a community railway line in July 2005, being one of seven pilots for
1332-519: Was opened in St Erth, replacing the old ticket office which was smaller. The new building now includes toilet facilities and a waiting lounge, including a medium-sized ticket office with two windows. This process also included upgraded step-free access to the concourse and to platforms 2 & 3. A new entrance to platforms 2 & 3 near to the station café was also built, next to an also new private building for staff only. An improved transport interchange
1369-448: Was when the station was renamed 'St Erth'. The station building was reconstructed in granite and a second track was laid on the north side of the platform for branch line trains, but the main line still had only the one track. This was partly rectified in about 1894 when a loop line with its own platform was opened, but the line was only doubled eastwards to Hayle on 10 September 1899, and westwards to Marazion on 16 June 1929. Beyond
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