Tamar Valley Line
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Tamar Valley Line
British Rail Class 153 at Dockyard
Info
Type	Community railway
Locale	Cornwall and Devon
Termini	Plymouth Gunnislake
Operation
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	First Great Western
Technical
Line length	14 mi (23 km)
No. of tracks	Single track throughout
Operating speed	55 mph (89 km/h)

The Tamar Valley Line is a railway line from Devonport in Plymouth Devon, to Gunnislake in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The line follows the River Tamar for much of its route.

History

The line from St Budeaux to Bere Alston was opened for passenger traffic on 2 June 1890 by the Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway (PDSWJ) as part of their line from Lydford to Devonport, which in effect was 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.^[1]

The branch to Gunnislake was opened by the PDSWJ on 2 March 1908.^[2]

Motive power

The line used former LSWR O2 Class tank engines as the man form of motive power for many years but in the 1950s newer LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2T engines took over. By 1964 steam had been ousted from the line and DMUs had taken over, working as two-car sets.

Today services are operated by First Great Western using Class 150 or Class 153 diesel multiple units.

Route

Communities served: Plymouth (including the suburbs of Devonport and St Budeaux) – Bere Ferrers – Bere Alston – Calstock – Gunnislake

The section between Calstock and Bere Ferrers is on the Bere peninsula, between the river Tamar, and the river Tavy. The most southerly road bridge (the A390) on the peninsula is at Gunnislake, crossing the river Tamar. This means the railway is the quickest way of getting into the city of Plymouth to the south. The line did face closure by the Beeching Axe, however the remaining section of line was saved due to the poor road transportation.

Passenger volume

The number of passengers travelling on the Tamar Valley line has been declining in recent years, although numbers travelling to or from some Plymouth suburban stations is increasing, as it is at Gunnislake itself.^[3]

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Community rail

Tamar Valley Line

Legend miles from Plymouth  Main Line to London  0.00 Plymouth Plymouth (Millbay) (SDR & CR) Millbay Docks Pennycomequick Viaduct Cornwall Loop Junction Devonport Junction (to LSWR) Wingfield Villas Halt CR) Devonport (Kings Road) (LSWR) Stonehouse Pool Docks 1.25 Devonport (CR) Albert Road Halt (LSWR) Devonport Tunnel 1.50 Dockyard (CR) Keyham Viaduct Ford (LSWR) Ford Platform (CR) 2.25 Keyham (CR) Devonport Dockyard branch (goods) Camels Head Halt (LSWR) Weston Mill Viaduct Bullpoint Siding Weston Mill Halt (LSWR) St Budeaux Ferry Road (CR) 3.25 St Budeaux Victoria Road (LSWR) Royal Albert Bridge and River Tamar  Penzance, Cornish Main Line (CR)  Ernesettle (private siding) Tavy Bridge River Tavy 7.50 Bere Ferrers 9.50 Bere Alston  Exeter, West of England Main Line (LSWR)  Calstock Viaduct (River Tamar) Calstock Quay 11.25 Calstock Closed Cornwall Minerals Railway 14.00 Gunnislake  Callington (PDSWJR)

The Tamar Valley Line is one of the railway lines supported by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, an organisation formed in 1991 to promote railway services in the area. The line is promoted by many means such as regular timetable and scenic line guides, as well as leaflets highlighting leisure opportunities such as walking or visiting country pubs.

The Tamar Valley rail ale trail was launched in 2004 to encourage rail travellers to visit pubs near the line. Five are in Plymouth city centre and a further three in the suburbs of Devonport and St Budeaux. There are single pubs to visit at Bere Ferrers and Bere Alston, two in Calstock and six in Gunnislake. 6, 10 or 18 stamps collected in the Rail Ale Trail leaflet entitle the participant to claim special Tamar Valley Line Rail Trail souvenir merchandise.^[4]

Wessex Trains covered Class 150 2-car DMU number 150240 in coloured pictures promoting the line and named The Tamar Kingfisher. It is now in service with Arriva Trains Wales and works throughout it's network.

The line was designated as a community rail line in September 2005, being one of seven pilots for the Department for Transport's Community Rail Development Strategy. This aims to establish the true costs and revenues for the line with an aim of improving them. It is also looking at simplifiying the reversal of trains, considering the costs and benefits should the line be "microfranchised" separately from the Great Western Franchise, and the potential for extending the line from Bere Alston to Tavistock.^[5]

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 5.5 miles (9 km) line from Bere Alston to a new Tavistock railway station at a cost of £18.5million. ^[6]

References

External links

• Great Scenic Railways in Devon and Cornwall.
• Calstock Online Parish Clerk - Railway pages