The Tamar Valley Line is a railway line from

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

, Devon, to Gunnislake, Cornwall, in England, also known as the Gunnislake branch line. The line follows the

River Tamar The Tamar (; kw, Dowr Tamar) is a river in south west England, that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A part of the Tamar Valley is a World Heritage Site due to its historic mining activities. T ...

for much of its route. Like all railway lines in Devon and Cornwall, it is unelectrified and all trains are diesel powered. The entire line is single track past St. Budeaux Junction.

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 The Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway (PD&SWJR) was an English railway company. It constructed a main line railway between Lydford and Devonport, in Devon, England, enabling the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) to reac ...

(PDSWJ) as part of their line from

Lydford Lydford, sometimes spelled Lidford, is a village, once an important town, in Devon, north of Tavistock on the western fringe of Dartmoor in the West Devon district. There is an electoral ward with the same name which includes Princetown. The p ...

to Devonport, which in effect was an extension of the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

's main line from

London Waterloo station Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of t ...

to Lydford, enabling the LSWR to reach Plymouth independently of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

. The branch to Gunnislake was opened by the PDSWJ on 2 March 1908. The line was listed for closure in the '' Reshaping of British Railways Report'' but was kept open (apart from the section between Gunnislake and Callington – closed in November 1966) because the roads in the areas served were poor.

Motive power

The line used former

LSWR O2 Class The LSWR O2 class is a class of 0-4-4T steam locomotive designed for the London and South Western Railway by William Adams. Sixty were constructed during the late nineteenth century. They were also the last steam engines to work on the Isle of ...

tank engines as the main form of motive power for many years but in the 1950s newer

LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2T The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2T is a class of light 'mixed-traffic' steam locomotive introduced in 1946. Background The LMS had various elderly tank engines and the operating department required a new smal ...

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

using Class 150

diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

Route

Communities served:

(including the suburbs of Devonport and St Budeaux) –

Bere Ferrers Bere Ferrers, sometimes called ''Beerferris'', is a village and civil parish on the Bere peninsula in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is located to the north of Plymouth, on the west bank of the River Tavy. It has a railway stat ...

– Bere Alston –

Calstock Calstock ( kw, Kalstok) is a civil parish and a large village in south east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the border with Devon. The village is situated on the River Tamar south west of Tavistock and north of Plymouth. The parish ha ...

– Gunnislake Trains heading towards Gunnislake must collect the branch train staff from a secure cabinet on the platform at before proceeding as the line is operated on the

one train working Signalling block systems enable the safe and efficient operation of railways by preventing collisions between trains. The basic principle is that a track is broken up into a series of sections or "blocks". Only one train may occupy a block at a ...

system with only a single unit allowed on the branch at a time. Conversely the staff has to be returned to the cabinet by the driver on the return journey before the unit can leave the branch and return to Plymouth. This operation was shown in an episode of the Channel 5 documentary series "The Railway - First Great Western" in October 2013. There is a small railway museum adjacent to Bere Ferrers railway station which includes a number of converted rail coaches available for holiday let. The station sign on the signal box uses the older spelling of 'Beer Ferrers'. The section between Bere Ferrers and

Calstock Viaduct Calstock railway station is an unstaffed railway station on the Tamar Valley Line serving the village of Calstock in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated at the north end of Calstock Viaduct which carries the railway at high level over t ...

is on the Bere peninsula, between river Tavy (crossed by the

Tavy Bridge Tavy Bridge is a railway bridge across the mouth of the River Tavy just east of its confluence with the River Tamar. It was built by the Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway, and the Tavy Bridge was constructed to carry the trac ...

) and the river Tamar. The driver changes ends of the train at the old junction station of . The most southerly road bridge across the Tamar in the Gunnislake area is the

A390 road The A390 is a road in Cornwall and Devon, England. It runs from Tavistock to north west of the city of Truro. Starting in Tavistock, it heads south-westwards towards Liskeard, crossing over the River Tamar and into Cornwall, then through Gu ...

which makes the railway is the quickest way of getting into the city of

. The next crossing down river is the Tamar Bridge at

Saltash Saltash (Cornish: Essa) is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Corn ...

Passenger volume

The overall number of passengers travelling on the Tamar Valley line has grown by over 50% since 2001. Gunnislake is the busiest station on the line.

Community rail

The Tamar Valley Line is one of the railway lines supported by the

Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership The Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership is the largest Community Rail Partnership in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1991 to promote the use of, and improvements to, rural railways in Devon and Cornwall, and also to promote the places serv ...

, 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 A rail ale trail is a marketing exercise in the United Kingdom that is designed to promote tourism to a rural area, by encouraging people to visit a series of pubs that are close to stations along a railway line. Participants are rewarded for v ...

was launched in 2004 to encourage rail travellers to visit pubs near the line. Seven are in Plymouth city centre and one in the suburb of Devonport. There are single pubs to visit at Bere Ferrers, Bere Alston and Calstock and four in Gunnislake. 10 stamps collected entitle the participant to claim special Tamar Valley Line Rail Trail souvenir merchandise. Wessex Trains covered Class 150 2-car DMU number 150240 in coloured pictures promoting the line and named ''The Tamar Kingfisher''. It later saw service with

Arriva Trains Wales Arriva Trains Wales (ATW; cy, Trenau Arriva Cymru) was a British train operating company owned by Arriva UK Trains that operated the Wales & Borders franchise. It ran urban and inter-urban passenger services to all railway stations in Wales, ...

. The line was designated as a

community rail Community rail in Britain is the support of railway lines and stations by local organisations, usually through community rail partnerships (CRPs) comprising railway operators, local councils, and other community organisations, and rail user grou ...

line in September 2005, being one of seven pilots for the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The ...

'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 simplifying 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 Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13 ...

. On 18 March 2008, Devon County Council backed a proposal by developers Kilbride Community Rail to construct 750 houses in

that includes reopening the line from Bere Alston to a new Tavistock railway station, at a cost of £18.5million.

References

External links

Great Scenic Railways in Devon and Cornwall.Video footage of Gunnislake stationCalstock Railway Station videoCalstock Railway ViaductBere Alston Railway Station
{{authority control Rail transport in Cornwall Rail transport in Devon Scenic railway lines in Devon and Cornwall Community railway lines in England Transport in Plymouth, Devon Railway lines opened in 1890 Railway lines in South West England Standard gauge railways in England River Tamar 1890 establishments in England