Plympton railway station was a former railway station located at

Plympton Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down river to P ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

on the

South Devon Main Line South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

between Exeter and Plymouth. Plympton was a town in its own right when the railway was constructed but is today an eastern suburb of the city of Plymouth.

History

Railway facilities in Plympton had originally been provided by the horse-drawn

Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway The Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway (P&DR) was a gauge railway built to improve the economy of moorland areas around Princetown in Devon, England. Independent carriers operated horse-drawn wagons and paid the company a toll. It opened in 1823, and ...

, but their branch to Plympton was closed and sold to the South Devon Railway to allow the construction of their new line. The new station was not ready to be opened with the railway, but was brought into use six weeks later on 15 June 1848. Westwards the line ran into

Plymouth Millbay railway station Plymouth Millbay railway station was the original railway terminus in Plymouth, Devon, England. It was used for passenger trains from 1849 to 1941. It was rebuilt in 1903. History The South Devon Railway Company, South Devon Railway origina ...

from 1849. In 1871 an intermediate station was opened at Mutley. From 1859 the

South Devon and Tavistock Railway The South Devon and Tavistock Railway linked Plymouth with Tavistock in Devon; it opened in 1859. It was extended by the Launceston and South Devon Railway to Launceston, in Cornwall in 1865. It was a broad gauge line but from 1876 also carried t ...

opened a new branch northwards from Plymouth 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 ...

and beyond. In 1865 a new station

Marsh Mills Marsh Mills, also known as Haley's Mill or Spielman Mill, is a historic home located at Fairplay, Washington County, Maryland, United States. It is a -story, three- bay-wide limestone house. The structure was built about 1850 as a mill, then con ...

was opened close to Plympton on this branch. From 1 June 1904 Plymouth was the eastern terminus for enhanced Plymouth area suburban services, which saw steam railmotors used to fight competition from electric

trams A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ar ...

. An additional station Laira Halt was opened between Plympton and Mutley until its closure in 1930. Mutley then shut in 1939. From 1941 Plymouth Millbay was closed to passengers following an air raid and

Plymouth railway station Plymouth railway station serves the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. It is on the northern edge of the city centre, close to the North Cross roundabout. It Is the second busiest station in the county of Devon, and is the largest of the six su ...

became the main central destination in the city and remained the next station on the line westwards. The station closed to passengers on 2 March 1959 but goods traffic continued to be handled until 1 June 1964. The station was demolished after closure and there are now no remains of the station.

Proposed reopening

A Plymouth Joint plan that was opened for consultation in 2018 included a suggested 'Plymouth Metro' with a station at Plympton. However, as of May 2020, nothing had been enacted.

References

Bibliography

* Tait, Derek. ''Plymouth From Old Photographs''. Amberley Publishing Limited, 2011. {{end box Disused railway stations in Plymouth, Devon Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1848 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1959