Devonport railway station

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Devonport
Location
Place	Devonport
Local authority	Plymouth
Operations
Station code	DPT
Managed by	First Great Western
Platforms in use	2
Annual entry/exit 04/05	16,202 **
History
Key dates	Opened 1859 Renamed Devonport Albert Road 1848+ Reverted in 1990s?
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
** based on sales of tickets in 2004/05 financial year which end or originate at Devonport. Disclaimer (PDF)

Devonport railway station serves the Devonport area of Plymouth, UK. Services are operated by First Great Western

The station is in a cutting at the top of an incline up from Plymouth. Immediately to the west of the station the line curves sharply to the right and enters a short tunnel.

The entrance is on the platform served by trains to Gunnislake and Saltash. A second platform is reached by footbridge that is served by trains to Plymouth.

To walk to Devonport, turn right out of the station, right again over the tunnel. On reaching the main road, Torpoint Ferry and the shops are down the hill to your left. To walk to Stoke, turn left out of the station and at the main road turn left again.

[edit] History

The station opened with the Cornwall Railway on 4 May 1859. It was described at the time as "built of rubble masonry, in the Italian style of architecture, which style is adopted at all stations on the railway. It consists of an arrival, departure, and goods stations, the two former being stone structures, and the last a wooden erection". The goods shed was in front of the station near the tunnel entrance.

In 1865 the Royal Agricultural Show was held at nearby at Pennycomequick and so the opportunity was taken to enlarge the platforms at Devonport. A "refreshment booth" was also erected for the duration of the show to cater for the large number of visitors expected.

The Cornwall Railway was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway on 1 July 1889. The Great Western Railway was nationalised into British Railways from 1 January 1948 which was in turn privatised in the 1990s.

For a while after 1948 the station was known as Devonport Albert Road to distinguish it from the ex-London and South Western Railway station in Kings Road (now the site of the college). It has now reverted to Devonport; it is unstaffed and the original buildings have been demolished.

[edit] References

The records of the Cornwall Railway can be consulted at The National Archives at Kew.
West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, Railway Special Edition, 1859.