General information | |
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Location | St Ives, Cornwall England |
Coordinates | 50°12′32″N5°28′41″W / 50.209°N 5.478°W |
Grid reference | SW519401 |
Managed by | Great Western Railway |
Platforms | 1 |
Other information | |
Station code | SIV |
Classification | DfT category F1 |
History | |
Original company | Great Western Railway |
Key dates | |
Opened | 1877 |
Resited | 1971 |
Passengers | |
2018/19 | 0.750 million |
2019/20 | 0.707 million |
2020/21 | 0.294 million |
2021/22 | 0.734 million |
2022/23 | 0.720 million |
Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road |
St Ives railway station (Cornish :Porth Ia) is a railway station which serves the coastal town of St Ives,Cornwall,England. It was opened in 1877 as the terminus of the last new broad gauge passenger railway to be constructed in the country. Converted to standard gauge in 1892,it is today served by Great Western Railway services on the St Ives Bay Line from St Erth.
The station was opened by the Great Western Railway on 1 June 1877 as the terminus of a 4.25 miles (6.8 km) long,7 ft (2,134 mm) gauge branch line from St Erth which until then had been known as St Ives Road to indicate its position as the railhead for the town. [1] 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 were caught by the many local boats,many of which were drawn up on Porthminster beach,just below the station. Immediately outside the station was the 106 yards (97 m) long St Ives Viaduct. A small engine shed was situated on the far side of the viaduct. [2]
The Great Western Railway purchased the Tregenna Castle,on the hill above the station,and opened it as a hotel to coincide with the opening of the railway. [1] The railway has played an important part in developing the tourist business in the area. [3]
The line was converted from broad gauge after the last train ran on Friday 20 May 1892;services from the following Monday running as 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge. On 12 November 1894 heavy rain caused flood water to run down Tregenna Hill. It broke through a wall, flooding down onto the station below, from where it cascaded off the other side down on to the beach. [3] The heavy fish traffic of the 19th century largely disappeared during the first half of the 20th century [2] and all goods traffic was withdrawn from the station on 9 September 1963. The signal box was no longer staffed and all the sidings were taken out of use by 1966. A camping coach was positioned here by the Western Region in 1958 and 1959; then there were two coaches from 1960 to 1964. [4]
The line was proposed for closure following the Beeching Report and, because of this, was mentioned in the song "Slow Train" by Flanders and Swann. [5] The line however was reprieved, but the original curved station was closed on 23 May 1971 and a new, straight, platform opened on the site of the goods shed to replace it. [6] The site of the original station is now a car park, but the railway also brings people from the Park and Ride car park at St Erth.
The station is situated on the hill above Porthminster beach on the south side of the town. It has a single platform, which is on the left of trains arriving from St Erth, which is 4.25 miles (6.8 km) to the south. There is a large car park adjacent to the platform, and the town centre is a short walk down the hill from the car park entrance. The town's small bus station is situated at the car park entrance. A travel agency immediately adjacent to the station platform contains a rail ticket booking office. Tickets issued to/from the station describe it as "St Ives Cornwall". [7] A path leads from the car park down to Porthminster beach, from where the South West Coast Path can be followed back to Carbis Bay or through the town towards Lands End.
All trains are operated by Great Western Railway. All services operate to and from St Erth, and connect with trains on the Cornish Main Line. During the daytime there are two services each hour. Only one of these typically calls at Lelant, with some gaps. The first and last train of the day (plus an early evening service on Saturday) are extended to Penzance [8] to facilitate crew changes.
Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
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Carbis Bay | Great Western Railway St Ives Bay Line | Terminus |
Bristol Temple Meads is the oldest and largest railway station in Bristol, England. It is located 118 miles 31 chains away from London Paddington. It is an important transport hub for public transport in the city; there are bus services to many parts of the city and surrounding districts, with a ferry to the city centre. Bristol's other major station, Bristol Parkway, is a more recent station on the northern outskirts of the conurbation.
Carbis Bay is a seaside resort and village in Cornwall, England. It lies 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of St Ives, on the western coast of St Ives Bay, on the Atlantic coast. The South West Coast Path passes above the beach.
The St Ives Bay Line is a 4.25 miles (6.84 km) railway line from St Erth to St Ives in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It was opened in 1877, the last new 7 ft broad gauge passenger railway to be constructed in the country. Converted to standard gauge in 1892, it continues to operate as a community railway, carrying tourists as well as local passengers. It has five stations including the junction with the Cornish Main Line at St Erth.
Newton Abbot railway station serves the market town of Newton Abbot in Devon, England. It is 214 miles 5 chains (345 km) from London Paddington. The station today is managed by Great Western Railway, who provide train services along with CrossCountry.
Bodmin Parkway railway station is on the Cornish Main Line that serves the nearby town of Bodmin and other parts of mid-Cornwall, England. It is situated 3 miles (4.8 km) south-east of the town of Bodmin in the civil parish of St Winnow, 274 miles 3 chains from London Paddington measured via Box and Plymouth Millbay. Network Rail’s National Rail Timetable dated May 2023 records the distance from London Paddington to Bodmin Parkway as 252.50 miles.
Par railway station serves the villages of Par, Tywardreath and St Blazey, Cornwall, England. The station is 281 miles 66 chains from the zero point at London Paddington measured via Box and Plymouth Millbay. It is the junction for the Atlantic Coast Line to Newquay.
St Austell station is a Grade II listed station which serves the town of St Austell, Cornwall, England. It is 286 miles 26 chains from the zero point at London Paddington measured via Box and Plymouth Millbay. The station is operated by Great Western Railway.
Truro railway station serves the city of Truro, Cornwall, England. The station is 300 miles 63 chains from the zero point at London Paddington measured via Box and Plymouth Millbay. It is situated on the Cornish Main Line and is the junction for the Maritime Line to Falmouth Docks.
Redruth station serves the town of Redruth, Cornwall, United Kingdom, and is situated on the Cornish Main Line between Truro and Camborne. The station is 309 miles 68 chains from the zero point at London Paddington measured via Box and Plymouth Millbay.
Camborne railway station serves the town of Camborne, Cornwall, England. The station is 313 miles 40 chains from the zero point at London Paddington measured via Box and Plymouth Millbay.
St Erth railway station is a Grade II listed station situated at Rose-an-Grouse in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It serves the nearby village of St Erth, which is about 0.75 miles (1.21 km) away, and is the junction for the St Ives Bay Line to St Ives. The station is 320 miles 78 chains from the zero point at London Paddington measured via Box and Plymouth Millbay.
Penzance railway station serves the town of Penzance in west Cornwall, England. It is the terminus of the Cornish Main Line from Plymouth and situated 326 miles 50 chains from the zero point at London Paddington measured via Box and Plymouth Millbay. It is the southernmost railway station in Great Britain. The first station opened in 1852 and through travel to and from London commenced from 1859 with the opening of the Royal Albert Bridge. The station was rebuilt by the Great Western Railway in 1876 and the current layout was the result of a further rebuilding in the 1930s. As of 2023, the station is owned by Network Rail and managed by Great Western Railway who also operate train services there, together with CrossCountry.
Barnstaple railway station is the northern terminus of the Tarka Line and serves the town of Barnstaple, Devon. It is 39 miles 75 chains (64.3 km) from Exeter Central and 211.25 miles (339.97 km) from London Waterloo. It is managed by Great Western Railway, which also operates the passenger service.
Carbis Bay railway station is on the St Ives Bay Line in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom and serves the village and beach of Carbis Bay, a community that only adopted this name after the arrival of the railway in 1877. Carbis Viaduct is situated on the St Ives (west) side of the station.
Lelant railway station is on the waterfront of the Hayle estuary below the village of Lelant in Cornwall, United Kingdom.
Lelant Saltings railway station was opened on 27 May 1978 to provide a park and ride facility for visitors to St Ives, Cornwall, England. It is situated on the A3074 road close to the junction with the A30 near the foot of the hill up to Lelant village. The park and ride facility closed in June 2019, replaced by a new one at nearby St Erth railway station, but the Saltings station remains open with a very limited service of trains.
The West Cornwall Railway was a railway company in Cornwall, Great Britain, formed in 1846 to construct a railway between Penzance and Truro. It purchased the existing Hayle Railway, and improved its main line, and built new sections between Penzance and Hayle, and between Redruth and Truro, and opened throughout in 1852.
The Cornish Main Line is a railway line in Cornwall and Devon in the United Kingdom. It runs from Penzance to Plymouth, crossing from Cornwall into Devon over the famous Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash.
The Helston Railway is a heritage railway in Cornwall which aims to rebuild and preserve as much as possible of the former GWR Helston Railway between Nancegollen and Water-Ma-Trout on the outskirts of Helston. It is operated by the Helston Railway Preservation Company using members of the Helston Railway Preservation Society.
This station offers access to the South West Coast Path | |
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Distance to path | 100 yards (91 m) |
Next station anticlockwise | Penzance 41 miles (66 km) |
Next station clockwise | Carbis Bay 1 mile (2 km) |