Ivybridge railway station

Infobox UK station


caption = Looking westwards
name = Ivybridge
manager = First Great Western
code = IVY
locale = Ivybridge
borough = South Hams
latitude = 50.39340
longitude = -3.90485
platforms = 2
original = British Rail
years = First station
events = 1848-1965
years1 = Current station opened
events1 = 1994
lowusage0203 = 30,786
lowusage0405 = 40,613
lowusage0506 = 48,440
lowusage0607 = 59,108

Ivybridge railway station is situated on the London to Penzance Linecite web |title = National Rail Timetable 135 (Winter 2007)|publisher= Network Rail|url = http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/eNRT/Dec07/timetables/Table135.pdf|format=PDF] and serves the town of Ivybridge in Devon, England. The station re-opened in the 1994 to the east of the original station, which had been closed in 1965. The station is operated by First Great Western.

History

First station

The first station at Ivybridge was located at coord|50.39470|N|3.92440|W|Type=landmark_region=GB. It was not complete when the South Devon Railway was opened, [cite book| last = MacDermot| first = E T| title = History of the Great Western Railway, volume II 1863-1921| publisher = Great Western Railway| date = 1931| location = London] but was brought into use just six weeks later on 15 June 1848. The building was situated on the north side of the track, immediately to the west of Ivybridge Viaduct. [cite book| last = Cooke| first = RA| title = Track Layout Diagrams of the GWR and BR WR, Section 14: South Devon| publisher = RA Cooke| date = 1984| location = Harwell] Passenger trains were withdrawn on 2 March 1965.cite book| last = Oakley| first = Mike| title = Devon Railway Stations| publisher = The Dovecote Press| date = 2007| location = Wimbourne| id = ISBN 1-904349-55-6]

Current station

A new station costing £380,000 was opened east of the viaduct on 15 July 1994. To fit in the narrow site, the platforms are staggered, with the eastbound platform nearer to Plymouth than the westbound. It was marketed as a Park and Ride station with a large 100-space car park to entice car drivers off the A38 road into Plymouth, but the level of train service has never offered the convenient and frequent service that is normally associated with such facilities.

An early timetable ["Train Times: Exeter, Torquay, Paignton, Plymouth", 28 May to 23 September 1995, Regional Railways South Wales & West (1995)] shows just 2 of the 10 trains to Plymouth railway station arriving there before 09:00, and the last return train leaving at 21:11. The afternoon service was gradually reduced until by September 1999 ["Timetable B: Exeter to Torbay & Plymouth", 26 Sept '99 – 27 May '00, Wales and West Passenger Trains Ltd (1999)] only 7 trains ran to Plymouth and 9 return. From 20 May 2001 ["Summer Train Times: Exeter to Torbay and Plymouth", 20 May 2001 to 29 September 2001, Wales & West Passenger Trains Ltd (2001)] a through service from London Waterloo station was introduced by South West Trains, which resulted in 11 trains each way. When First Great Western proposed their new Winter 2006 service there were many complaints as it would have seen a drastic reduction in trains calling at Ivybridge. After considering the position, a total of 9 trains were scheduled by the two companies but with just one train arriving in Plymouth before 09:00. ["Train Times: Book B", 10 December 2006 to 19 May 2007, First Great Western (2006)]

ervices

A limited through service to and from London Waterloo station is operated by South West Trains. Other services are provided by First Great Western, most of which run between Exeter St Davids and either Gunnislake or Penzance. From December 2008, three through services a day will operate in each direction between Ivybridge and London Paddington station.Fact|date=October 2008
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References

External links

* [http://www.irug.ik.com/ Ivybridge Rail Users Group]