Liskeard railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Liskeard


manager = First Great Western
locale = Liskeard
borough = Caradon, Cornwall
latitude = 50.44670
longitude = -4.46923
code = LSK
original = Cornwall Railway
pregroup = Great Western Railway
postgroup = Great Western Railway
years = 1859
events = Opened
years2 = 1901
events2 = Looe branch opened
platforms = 3
lowusage0203 = 209,875
usage0405 = 232,269
usage0506 = 237,113
usage0607 = 267,864

Liskeard station serves the town of Liskeard in Cornwall, England. The station is convert|17.75|mi|km|0 west of Plymouth on the Cornish Main Line and it is the junction for the Looe Valley Line. [cite book |last = Bennett |first = Alan |title = The Great Western Railway in East Cornwall |publisher = Runpast Publishing |year = 1990 |location = Cheltenham |id = ISBN 1-87075-411-5]

History

Cornwall Railway

The station opened with the Cornwall Railway on 4 May 1859. [cite book |last = MacDermot |first = E T |title = History of the Great Western Railway, volume II 1863-1921 |publisher = Great Western Railway |year = 1931 |location = London] It was described at the time as occupying "an elevated position nearly a mile to the south of the town", the main building "stands considerably above the rails, the descent to which is by a long flight of steps, which will be hereafter, we understand, entirely covered in. The building is of stone, having a large verandah projecting over the road. On the opposite side of the line is the arrival station, which is also a stone erection; and to the south of this, is the goods shed, which is a timber structure, having warehouses and offices at the ends". ["West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser", Railway Special Edition, 1859]

Traffic at the new station was sufficient to warrant additional goods sidings before the end of the year. There is no evidence that the steps from the booking office were ever covered, instead they were replaced with a slope in 1866.

Looe branch

A railway had run to Looe from Moorswater, in the valley west of Liskeard, since 27 December 1860. On 25 February 1901 the Liskeard and Looe Railway was extended up to the Great Western Railway station, this extension line opening to passengers on 15 May 1901.cite book |last = Tolson |first = JM |coauthors = Roose, G and Whetmath, CFD |title = Railways of Looe and Caradon |publisher = Forge Books |year = 1974 |location = Bracknell] cite book |last = Messenger |first = Michael|title = Caradon & Looe: the canal, railways and mines |publisher = Twelveheads Press |year = 2001 |location = Truro |id = ISBN 0-90629-446-0]

The Liskeard and Looe Railway arrived at right angles to the main line at a dedicated platform with its own buildings. Trains start their journey by travelling "northwards", away from Looe. They swing round towards the south, descend gradients as steep as 1 in 40 to pass below the Liskeard Viaduct, swing back towards the north, and then reverse at Coombe Junction for the remainder of their journey to Looe. In the days of steam locomotives, there was an extended stop at Coombe to enable the locomotive to run around to the front of the train when reversing direction. [cite book | last = Beale | first = Gerry| title = The Liskeard and Looe Branch | publisher = Wild Swan Publications Ltd | year = 2000 | location = Didcot| id = ISBN 1-874103-47-X] If someone just missed a train leaving Liskeard for Looe, it was possible to run down the hill to Coombe and pick up the train from there.Fact|date=May 2008

A connection in the goods yard allows goods trains and empty carriages to be exchanged between the main line and the branch.

Later history

The Cornwall Railway was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway on 1 July 1889 and the Liskeard and Looe Railway did the same on 1 January 1923. The Great Western Railway was nationalised into British Railways from 1 January 1948 which was in privatised in the 1990s.

The station was modernised in 2004. A brick extension to the original Brunel-designed building was replaced by a light and airy glass structure. This work was entered into annual National Railway Heritage Awards in 2005 and won the Network Rail Partnership Award. In 2007 the signs on the Looe Valley platform were replaced with brown and cream signs in the style used by the Western Region of British Railways in the 1950s and 1960s.

Accidents

Two unusual accidents have occurred at Liskeard due to its elevated position. Luckily no one was hurt in either incident.

In April 1863 a goods train was incorrectly sent into a siding where it collided with some wagons standing there. The impact sent these through the buffer stops and over the edge of the embankment.

On 15 June 1906 five empty carriages ran away from the branch platform during shunting operations. They ran down the gradient to Coombe Junction and along the line to Moorswater where they ran into the shed, knocking down the shed wall.

Description

The railway station has an unusual layout, trains to Looe leave from a separate platform at a right angle and to the north of the main station with an access road between them. The station retains semaphore signalling worked from a signal box at the Plymouth end of the westbound platform.

The station is in a deep cutting with the large Liskeard viaduct just to the east. At the west end the line dips down and bears left past the site of the old goods shed and on to another large viaduct at Moorswater.

The Isambard Kingdom Brunel-designed booking office is next to the road and there is step-free access to all platforms. Trains towards Plymouth use the platform nearest the booking office, those towards Penzance are across the footbridge. The station is operated by First Great Western.

To reach the town centre, turn right outside the station.

ignalling

The trains on the main line are still controlled using semaphore signals. The signal box is situated at the Plymouth end of the westbound platform, opposite the entrance to the goods yard.

A separate Liskeard Branch Signal Box was opened with the loop line to control trains going to Coombe Junction. It was closed on 15 March 1964, since when the connection to the old goods yard leading to the main line is operated from a ground frame.

Passenger volume

Liskeard is the busiest of the Cornish junction stations, with more than ¼ million passengers each year. Comparing the year from April 2006 to that which started in April 2002, passenger numbers increased by 28%. [cite web|url=http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1529|title =Station Usage|work =Rail Statistics|publisher =Office of Rail Regulation|accessdate = 2008-06-30] The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

ervices

Liskeard is served by most First Great Western trains on the trains on the Cornish Main Line between Penzance and Plymouth. [cite web |title = National Rail Timetable 135 (Winter 2007)|publisher= Network Rail|url = http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/eNRT/Dec07/timetables/Table135.pdf|format=PDF] 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 the afternoon Royal Duchy.

There are a limited number of CrossCountry trains providing a service to Scotland in the morning and returning in the evening. One of the local services to Penzance each weekend runs from and to London Waterloo station and is operated by South West Trains.

The Looe Valley Line services run a regular service to Looe but only two or three each day call at Coombe Junction Halt. There is no Sunday service in the winter. [cite web |title = National Rail Timetable 140 (Winter 2007)|publisher= Network Rail|url = http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/eNRT/Dec07/timetables/Table140.pdf|format=PDF]

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Community rail

The railway between Liskeard and Looe is designated as a community rail line. It is supported by marketing provided by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership and promoted under the "Looe Valley Line" name. The signs on the Looe Valley platform were replaced in 2007 with brown and cream signs in the style used by the Western Region of British Railways in the 1950s and 1960s.

The "Old Stag Inn" opposite the station is included in the Looe Valley Line rail ale trail, as is the "White Horse" in the town centre.

References

Further reading

*
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* The records of the Cornwall Railway can be consulted at The National Archives at Kew.

External link

* [http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~owend/interests/rail/stnpages/liskeard.html British Railway Stations - Liskeard]