Plympton railway station

Plympton
Postcard of Plympton station c.1900
General information
Location	Plympton, Plymouth England
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	South Devon Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Key dates
15 June 1848 (1848-06-15)	Opened
2 March 1959 (1959-03-02)	Closed to passengers
1 June 1964 (1964-06-01)	Closed to goods

v t Railways in the Plymouth area
Legend
Reading–Plymouth line Plympton (GWR) South Devon and Tavistock Railway Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway  A38  Laira Junction Laira TMD Laira   LSWR Turnchapel Branch and GWR Plymouth to Yealmpton Branch   Cattewater and Sutton Harbour Plymouth Friary (LSWR) Mutley (Joint) Plymouth North Road (Joint) Plymouth Millbay (GWR) Devonport Albert Road (GWR) Devonport Kings Road (LSWR) Dockyard (GWR) Albert Road Halt (LSWR) Ford (LSWR) Camels Head Halt (LSWR) Weston Mill Halt (LSWR) Keyham (GWR) St Budeaux Ferry Road (GWR) St Budeaux Victoria Road (LSWR) LSWR Tamar Valley Line to Gunnislake and Exeter Royal Albert Bridge over River Tamar GWR Cornish Main Line to Penzance
GWR Great Western Railway LSWR London and South Western Railway

Plympton railway station was a former railway station located at Plympton in Devon on the South Devon Main Line 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, 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 from 1849. In 1871 an intermediate station was opened at Mutley. From 1859 the South Devon and Tavistock Railway opened a new branch northwards from Plymouth to Tavistock and beyond. In 1865 a new station Marsh Mills 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. 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 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 termination of passenger services on the line proceeded the Beeching Axe by several years.

Proposed reopening[]

A Plymouth Joint plan that was opened for consultation in 2018 included a suggested 'Plymouth Metro' with a station at Plympton.^[1] However, as of May 2020, nothing had been enacted.

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Tait, Derek. Plymouth From Old Photographs. Amberley Publishing Limited, 2011.