St Ives railway station

Infobox UK station
name = St Ives


caption = Looking towards the end of the line
locale = St Ives
borough = Penwith, Cornwall
latitude = 50.20890
longitude = -5.47824
code = SIV
manager = First Great Western
platforms = 1
lowusage0203 = 213,397
lowusage0405 = 220,300
lowusage0506 = 171,281
lowusage0607 = 117,131
original = Great Western Railway
years = Opened
events = 1877
years1 = Rebuilt
events1 = 1971

St Ives railway station serves the busy coastal town of St. Ives, Cornwall.

The station is at the end of the St Ives Bay Line. There is just a single platform, on the left of the train when it arrives from St Erth. A large car park is situated adjacent to the platform and the town centre is a short walk down the hill from the car park entrance. Many local bus services terminate at the car park entrance.

A path leads from the car park to Porthminster beach, from where the South West Coast Path can be followed back to Carbis Bay, or through the town and beyond.

History

The station was opened by the Great Western Railway on 1 June 1877 as the terminus of a branch line from St Erth which, until then, had been known as "St Ives Road". The platform was on a sharp curve with a goods shed behind it. The town end of the platform was used to load railway trucks with fish that was caught by the many local boats, many of which were drawn up on Porthminster beach, just below the station. A small engine shed was situated on the far side of the viaduct at the end of the platform.

The Great Western Railway purchased the Tregenna Castle which was situated on the hill above the station and turned it into an hotel.

The original station has now been demolished to provide a larger car park, with a new platform being opened on 23 May 1971 on the site of the goods shed. This has enabled the sharp curve in the platform to be eased out.

The station was referred to in the song "Slow Train" by Flanders and Swann. This is because it was going to be closed following the Beeching Report.

References

* "The Great Western Railway in West Cornwall" by Alan Bennett, Runpast Publications 1988, ISBN 1-870754-12-3
* "The St Ives Branch" by Stanley C Jenkins, "Great Western Railway Journal", Late Summer issue 1992, Wild Swan Publications

External link

* [http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~owend/interests/rail/stnpages/stives.html British Railway Stations - Photogrpahs of St Ives]

Swcp
topath=convert|100|yd|m|0
anti-nextstation=Penzance convert|41|mi|km|0
clck-nextstation=Carbis Bay convert|1|mi|km|0