The St Ives Bay Line is a railway line from to in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It was opened in 1877, the last new broad gauge passenger railway to be constructed in the country. Converted to standard gauge in 1892, it continues to operate as a community railway, carrying tourists as well as local passengers. It has five stations including the junction with the Cornish Main Line at .

History

thumb|left|St Ives circa 1890

The St Ives Junction Railway applied for an act of Parliament in 1845, but as the West Cornwall Railway failed in its application for an act in that session of Parliament, the St Ives company withdrew its proposal. The Great Western, Bristol & Exeter, and South Devon Railway Companies Act 1873 was passed by Parliament to authorise a St Ives branch line as an extension of the West Cornwall Railway, although by that time this was controlled by the Great Western Railway. It was opened on 1 June 1877, the last new broad gauge passenger railway route to be built in Britain. A third rail was added to the southern section of the line in October 1888 to allow standard gauge goods trains to reach the wharf at . The last broad-gauge train ran on Friday 20 May 1892; since the following Monday all trains have been standard gauge.

Although there was heavy traffic in fish in the early years, this declined during the first half of the twentieth century. Goods traffic was withdrawn from the intermediate stations at Lelant and in May 1956 but continued at St Ives until September 1963. but Minister of Transport Barbara Castle reprieved it. On 23 May 1971, the platform at St Ives was moved to make way for a car park but seven years later, on 27 May 1978, a new station was opened at between St Erth and Lelant. This was given a large car park so that it could operate as a Park and Ride facility for St Ives. It runs alongside the Hayle estuary and then the sea coast and is promoted as a good place to see birds from the train. It has also been listed as one of the most picturesque railways in England.

The line diverges from the Cornish Main Line at . After the line goes through a short cutting and underneath two road bridges which carry the A30 roundabout outside the station, the line follows the western side of the estuary past . Beyond Lelant railway station the line enters a cutting and climbs onto the sand dunes above Porth Kidney Sands on St Ives Bay, with the church of St Uny and Lelant golf course on the left; the church's cemetery was disturbed when the railway cut through the hill. The South West Coast Path crosses the line here and then follows close by all the way to St Ives. The railway continues to climb up and onto the steep cliffs at Hawkes Point, about above sea level. Soon after the line comes around the headland at Carrick Gladden and into .

In the winter of 2026, GWR operated 28 trains each way on weekdays, 26 on Saturdays and 19 on Sundays. The 2026 summer timetable had one additional train on Sundays. All trains call at but is only served by about half the trains; has only one train each way each day.

Signalling

The line is controlled from the signal box at ; only one train is allowed to operate on the line at any time. Trains travelling towards St Ives are described as 'down trains' and those towards St Erth as 'up trains'. There are three public crossings on the line. 'Western Growers Crossing' is a crossing at St Erth which the signaller can see from the signal box. 'Towan Crossing' is a user-worked crossing north of Lelant, and there is a foot crossing at Hawke's Point as the line approaches Carbis Bay.

Passenger volume

From 2001 to 2011 journeys on the St Ives Bay Line increased by 68%.

References

Further reading

  • Great Scenic Railways of Devon and Cornwall
  • British Railways Sectional Appendix for the St Ives Branch, 1 October 1960