Lympstone Commando railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Lympstone Commando
code = LYC


locale = Lympstone
borough = East Devon, Devon
latitude = 50.6625
longitude = -3.4410
manager = First Great Western
platforms = 1
original = British Rail
lowusage0203 = 70,940
lowusage0405 = 55,875
lowusage0506 = 62,141
lowusage0607 = 64,024
years = Opened
events = 1976

Lympstone Commando railway station is a railway station on the branch line from Exeter to Exmouth in Devon, England.

The station is a rare example of a passenger station not open to the general public: it is exclusively for the use of visitors to the Royal Marine Commando Training Centre at Lympstone.

History

The station was opened on 3 May 1976. This caused some confusion with the older Lympstone railway station, but this has since been renamed "Lympstone Village". [cite book |last = Mitchell |first = Vic|coauthors = Smith, Keith |title = Branch Lines to Exmouth |publisher = Middleton Press |date = 1992 |location = Midhurst|id = ISBN 1-873793-00-6]

For many years troop trains were a feature of its operation about three times each year. The trains were operated with a locomotive at each end as there is no way to run around a train south of Topsham; the leading locomotive on arrival was dragged back to Exeter Central where it was detached. The trains were considerably longer than the platform and loading the passengers was a slow operation as they had to make their way through the train from the centre coaches. A similar operation today is difficult to arrange as the regular timetabled passenger service is much more intensive than in the 1980s.

Description

The station is situated on the banks of the estuary of the River Exe. It consists of a single platform , which is on the left of trains arriving from Exeter. Access to the commando base is by way of an armed sentry post – this is the only access to and from the platform.

ervices

About half the trains on the Avocet Line from Exmouth to Exeter St Davids call at Lympstone Commando – this means that passengers alighting here must tell the conductor that they wish to do so, and those waiting to join must signal clearly to the driver as the train approaches.

Beyond Exeter St Davids they generally continue to either Paignton or Barnstaple. Connections are available at Exeter Central for Pinhoe and stations to Waterloo; passengers for other main line stations change at St Davids. [cite web| title = National Rail Timetable 136|url = http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/eNRT/Dec07/timetables/Table136.pdf]

Note that only people having business at the commando base are allowed to board or alight at this station. Passengers for Lympstone itself must use Lympstone Village railway station.

References

External links

* [http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~owend/I/R/stnpages/lympstonecommando.html Photographs of Lympstone Commando by Owen Dunn]