Lympstone Commando  | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Location | Woodbury, East Devon England |
| Coordinates | 50°39′44″N 3°26′28″W / 50.6623°N 3.441°W |
| Grid reference | SX982857 |
| Managed by | Great Western Railway |
| Platforms | 1 |
| Other information | |
| Station code | LYC |
| Classification | DfT category F2 |
| History | |
| Original company | British Rail |
| Key dates | |
| 3 May 1976 | Opened |
| Passengers | |
| 2018/19 |  64,294 |
| 2019/20 | 69,846 |
| 2020/21 |  19,050 |
| 2021/22 | 76,134 |
| 2022/23 | 83,160 |
| Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road | |
Lympstone Commando railway station is a railway station situated on the Avocet Line, a branch line from Exeter to Exmouth in Devon, England.
The station is for the exclusive use of visitors to the Royal Marine Commando Training Centre at Lympstone. Access is through a locked gate although there is a public foot and cycle path alongside the station which separates it from the commando base.
History
The station was opened on 3 May 1976 by British Rail. This caused some confusion with the older Lympstone railway station, but this has since been renamed "Lympstone Village".[1] It was built using cast platform sections recovered from Weston Milton railway station where the track had been singled and so one platform was no longer needed.
For many years troop trains were a feature of its operation about three times each year. The trains were operated with a locomotive at each end as there is no way to run around a train south of Topsham; the leading locomotive on arrival was dragged back to Exeter Central where it was detached. The trains were considerably longer than the platform and loading the passengers was a slow operation as they had to make their way through the train from the centre coaches. A similar operation today is difficult to arrange as the regular timetabled passenger service is much more intensive than in the 1980s.
During November 2020, the platform was extended by 25 metres (82 ft) to make it 89 m (292 ft) long.[2]
Description
The station is situated on the banks of the estuary of the River Exe. It consists of a single platform, which is on the left of trains arriving from Exeter.
On 28 May 2010, a section of the Exe Estuary Trail opened between Lympstone village and Exton.[3] This runs between the platform and the entrance to the camp[4] so the public can now access the station, although the sign on the platform still remains stating "persons alighting here must have business with the camp". The Ministry of Defence have accepted that the station is the property of Network Rail and as such they cannot prohibit members of the public from using the station[5] – however, persons wishing to take photographs from the platform should inform the guard room at the Commando Training Centre beforehand.[5]
Services
About half the trains on the Avocet Line between Exmouth and Exeter St Davids call at Lympstone Commando, except on Saturdays where all services call here. It is a request stop, meaning that passengers alighting must tell the conductor that they wish to do so, and those waiting to join must signal clearly to the driver as the train approaches.
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exton | Great Western Railway Avocet Line |
Lympstone Village | ||
References
- ↑ Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1992). Branch Lines to Exmouth. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 1-873793-00-6.
- ↑ Brailsford, Martin (February 2021). "Trackwatch". Modern Railways. p. 88.
- ↑ "East of the estuary". latest News from the Estuary. Exe Estuary Management Partnership. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
- ↑ See Geograph photograph
- 1 2 "Lympstone Commando Railway Station - a Freedom of Information request to Ministry of Defence". WhatDoTheyKnow. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
External links
- Photographs of Lympstone Commando by Owen Dunn
- Train times and station information for Lympstone Commando railway station from National Rail