St Budeaux Victoria Road railway station

Infobox UK station


name =St Budeaux Victoria Road
manager =First Great Western
code = SBV
locale =St Budeaux
borough =Plymouth
latitude = 50.40210
longitude = -4.18765
lowusage0203 = 5,451
lowusage0405 = 5,818
lowusage0506 = 6,146
lowusage0607 = 5,264
platforms =1
start = 1890

St Budeaux Victoria Road railway station is a suburban station in St Budeaux, Plymouth, Devon, England. It is operated by First Great Western but is unstaffed.

History

The Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway opened their St Budeaux station on 2 June 1890 with its main line from Lydford to Devonport, [cite book | last = Cheesman | first = AJ | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Plymouth, Devonport and South Wesetern Junction Railway | publisher = Oakwood Press | year = 1967 | location = Blandford Forum] [cite book | last = Crombleholme | first = Roger| coauthors = Gibson, Bryan; Stickey, Douglas; Whetmath, CFD | title = Callington Railways | publisher = Forge Books | year = 1967 | location = Brackenll| doi = 1985] which gave the London and South Western Railway a route into Plymouth that was independent of the Great Western Railway. The station was close to road that led down to the Saltash ferry across the River Tamar.

A new connection to the Great Western Railway was installed east of the station on 21 March 1941 in order to offer the two companies alternative routes between Plymouth and St Budeaux should either line be closed due to bombing during World War 2. On 7 September 1964 the original line into Devonport was closed and since then all trains have used the former Great Western route and the wartime connection to reach St Budeaux, which had by then been renamed St Budeaux Victoria Road to differentiate it from St Budeaux Ferry Road which had been opened on the Great Western Railway on 1 June 1904. [cite book| last = Oakley| first = Mike| title = Devon Railway Stations| publisher = The Dovecote Press| year = 2007| location = Wimbourne| id = ISBN 1-904349-55-6]

The line from St Budeaux to Bere Alston was singled on 7 September 1970.

Description

There is a single platform – on the left of trains arriving from Plymouth.

ervices

Victoria Road is served by trains on the Tamar Valley Line from Gunnislake to Plymouth. Connections with main line services can be made at Plymouth, although a small number of Tamar Valley services continue to or from Exeter St Davids. [cite web |title = National Rail Timetable 139 (Winter 2007)|publisher= Network Rail|url = http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/eNRT/Dec07/timetables/Table139.pdf|format=PDF]

Passengers travelling west into Cornwall can change at Plymouth, but there are also a small number of direct services from St Budeaux Ferry Road railway station which is less than convert|100|yd|-2 away.

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.

Two pubs on the banks of the River Tamar at St Budeaux are part of the Tamar Valley Line rail ale trail, which is designed to promote the use of the line. The line is also part of the Dartmoor Sunday Rover network of integrated bus and rail routes. [Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership (2006), "Tamar Valley Line Rail Ale Trail"]

References

Further reading

*cite web | last =Mosley | first =Brian | title =St Budeaux Victoria Road Station | work =Encyclopedia of Plymouth History | publisher =Plymouth Data | url =http://www.plymouthdata.info/Railways-StBudeaux%20VR%20Station.htm | accessdate = 2008-07-22