Looe railway station

Looe National Rail
Location
Place East and West Looe
Local authority Cornwall
Coordinates 50°21′34″N 4°27′24″W / 50.3594°N 4.45653°W / 50.3594; -4.45653Coordinates: 50°21′34″N 4°27′24″W / 50.3594°N 4.45653°W / 50.3594; -4.45653
Grid reference SX253539
Operations
Station code LOO
Managed by Great Western Railway
Number of platforms 1
DfT category F1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2002/03 72,418
2004/05 Increase 75,510
2005/06 Decrease 70,880
2006/07 Increase 81,022
2007/08 Decrease 76,527
2008/09 Increase 82,614
2009/10 Increase 88,520
2010/11 Increase 0.100 million
2011/12 Increase 0.120 million
2012/13 Decrease 0.106 million
2013/14 Increase 0.118 million
2014/15 Increase 0.125 million
History
1860 Opened for goods
1879 open for passengers
1963 closed for goods
1968 station resited
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Looe from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Looe railway station serves the twin towns of East and West Looe, in Cornwall, England. The station is the terminus of the scenic Looe Valley Line 8.75 miles (14 km) south of Liskeard.

History

The Liskeard and Looe Railway was opened on 27 December 1860 to carry goods traffic; passenger trains started on 11 September 1879. The railway in those days connected with the Liskeard and Caradon Railway at Moorswater, the loop line from Coombe Junction to Liskeard railway station not opening until 25 February 1901 (goods) and 15 May 1901 (passenger).[1]

The station was unusual for a terminus, in that there was just a single platform and track, with no loop for the locomotive to run round to the back of the train for the return journey. Instead, all trains continued empty to the carriage shed and engine shed that was situated between the platform and the road bridge across the river. Goods sidings were provided between these sheds and the river, but much of the goods traffic was destined for Buller Quay beyond the approach to the bridge.

Looe signal box was situated in a hut on the platform. It only had eight levers and was closed on 15 March 1964, after which the section to Coombe Junction was controlled by issuing the train driver with a distinct wooden staff.

The Looe branch, like most Cornish branch-lines, was proposed for closure in the 1963 Beeching Report.[2] The sidings beyond the station were taken out of use in November 1963 and the line cut back by 110 yards on 28 April 1968; the police station now stands where the railway station building and most of the platform once was (the current platform is the top end of the original one). The zero milepost was situated near the seven-span road bridge across the river where the railway connected with the private sidings on Buller Quay. The original station was 14 chains (252 yards or 231 m) north of this point, but the line has since been further shortened, so the mile post marking ¼ mile from the 'end' of the line is in fact opposite the platform and just 20 yards from the present stop block.

Description

There is a single platform, on the left of trains arriving from Liskeard. It faces out across the estuary of the River Looe.

Services

All trains run to Liskeard along the "Looe Valley Line".[3] In the May 2016 timetable, there are 12 departures on weekdays & winter Saturdays, 13 on summer Saturdays and 7 on summer Sundays. There is no Sunday service in the winter.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Sandplace   Great Western Railway
Looe Valley Line		   Terminus

Community rail

The railway between Liskeard and Looe is designated as a community rail line and is supported by marketing provided by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership. The line is promoted under the "Looe Valley Line" name.

The "Globe Inn" opposite the station is included in the Looe Valley Line rail ale trail, along with seven other pubs in East and West Looe.

Under its Looe Valley Railway Company trading arm, the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership has run a Summer ticket office at Looe station since 2004.

Cultural impact

Looe is one of the stations named in Bernard Moore's poem Travelling

Notes

  1. ↑ Beale, Gerry (2000). "The Liskeard and Looe Branch". Wild Swan. pp. 17 & 18.
  2. ↑ Beeching 1963, pp. 106, 107.
  3. ↑ Table 140 National Rail timetable, May 2016

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Looe Valley Line.
This station offers access to the South West Coast Path
Distance to path ¼ mile
Next station anticlockwise Plymouth 21 miles
Next station clockwise Par 18 miles
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.