Bere Alston railway station

Infobox UK station


caption = Looking west towards the junction
name = Bere Alston
manager = First Great Western
code = BAS
locale = Bere Alston
borough = West Devon
latitude = 50.4863
longitude = -4.19982
lowusage0203= 37,944
lowusage0405= 29,552
lowusage0506= 27,263
lowusage0607= 26,866
platforms = 1

Bere Alston railway station is an unstaffed halt situated near the village of Bere Alston in Devon, England, convert|10.25|mi|km north of Plymouth on the branch to Gunnislake.

The survival of the route is almost entirely due to the fact that 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, [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] 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. [cite book | last = Clinker | first = CR | title = The Railways of Cornwall 1809 - 1963 | publisher = David and Charles | year = 1963 | location = Dawlish ]

On 2 March 1908 it became a junction, with the opening of a branch line to Callington Road. [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] 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 convert|5.5|mi|km|0 line from Bere Alston to a new Tavistock railway station at a cost of £18.5million. [cite journal| last = Harris| first = Nigel| title = Taking trains back to Tavistock| journal = Rail| issue = 590| pages = 40-45| publisher = Bauer| year = 2008]

Gallery

ervices

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, although a small number of Tamar Valley services continue to or from Exeter St Davids.

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. [Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership (2006), "Tamar Valley Line Rail Ale Trail"] The line is also part of the Dartmoor Sunday Rover network of integrated bus and rail routes.

References

External links

* [http://www.trainweb.org/railwest/railco/sr/b-alston.html Bere Alston – An Outline History of the Railway Station]