Bere Alston Railway Station
Bere Alston railway station is an unstaffed halt situated near the village of Bere Alston in Devon, England, 16 km (10¼ miles) north of Plymouth on the branch to Gunnislake.
The survival of the route is almost entirely due to the fact that Bere Alston, Bere Ferrers, and Calstock are situated in an area which for geographical reasons has relatively poor road connections.
History
Beer Alston station was opened for passenger traffic on 2 June 1890 by the Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway as an intermediate station on that company's line from Lydford to Devonport, which – being in effect an extension of the London and South Western Railway's main line from London to Lydford, enabling the LSWR to reach Plymouth independently of the Great Western Railway – was immediately leased to the LSWR. Bere Alston station was 220 miles and 15 chains (354.35 km) from Waterloo station (the LSWR terminus in London).
The station was renamed Bere Alston in 1898.
On 2 March 1908 it became a junction, with the opening of a branch line to Callington Road. The PDSWJR became part of the Southern Railway in 1923 and British Railways on 1 January 1948.
The line from Lydford to Bere Alston was closed on 6 May 1968, which left just the Gunnislake service running through from Plymouth and reversing at Bere Alston. The line from Plymouth was reduced to just a single track on 7 September 1970 and the junction changed to allow the train guard to operate the points.
Services
Bere Alston is served by trains on the Tamar Valley Line from Gunnislake to Plymouth. Connections with main line services can be made at Plymouth, although a small number of Tamar Valley services continue to or from Exeter St Davids.
Community railway
The railway from Plymouth to Gunnislake is designated as a community railway and is supported by marketing provided by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership. The line is promoted under the "Tamar Valley Line" name.
The Edgcumbe Hotel in Bere Alston village is part of the Tamar Valley Line rail ale trail, which is designed to promote the use of the line. The line is also part of the Dartmoor Sunday Rover network of integrated bus and rail routes.
This content is taken from Wikipedia and is re-used according to the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
