- St Germans railway station
Infobox UK station
name = St Germans
manager =First Great Western
locale =St Germans
borough =Caradon ,Cornwall
latitude = 50.39430
longitude = -4.30876
code = SGM
original =Cornwall Railway
pregroup =Great Western Railway
postgroup =Great Western Railway
years = Opened
events = 1859
platforms = 2
lowusage0203 = 25,681
lowusage0405 = 24,926
lowusage0506 = 28,228
lowusage0607 = 29,540St Germans Station serves the
village ofSt Germans inCornwall , UK. The Station is operated byFirst Great Western and convert|9.25|mi|km|0 west of Plymouth.It is situated immediately west of the large St Germans viaduct. [cite book| last = Bennett| first = Alan| title = The Great Western Railway in East Cornwall| publisher = Runpast Publishing| date = 1990| location = Cheltenham| id = ISBN 1-870754-11-5]
Both platforms have step-free entrances. The platform nearest St Germans Quay is served by trains to Liskeard; trains to Plymouth use the opposite platform.
History
The station opened with the
Cornwall Railway on4 May 1859 . It was described at the time as "of ornamental design ... conveniently situated close to the town, and consists of arrival, departure, and goods stations, all three being constructed of stone". ["West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser", Railway Special Edition, 1859]A fatal accident occurred near St Germans just two days after the opening of the railway. On
6 May 1859 . The engine of the 7.25 p.m. train from Plymouth was approaching St Germans when it left the rails, hit the parapet of the wooden viaduct across Grove Creek and fell 38 feet into the mud below, landing upside down. Two of the coaches also ended up in the creek. The driver, fireman, and one guard were killed. A second guard, Richard Paddon, was given a reward of five pounds for his part in keeping the remainder of the train on the viaduct and helping to rescue the survivors. [cite book| last = MacDermot| first = E T| title = History of the Great Western Railway, volume II 1863-1921| publisher =Great Western Railway | date = 1931| location = London]The Cornwall Railway was amalgamated into the
Great Western Railway on1 July 1889 . The Great Western Railway was nationalised intoBritish Railways from1 January 1948 which was in turn privatised in the 1990s.In 1973 a signal panel was located in the old station buildings on the platform served by trains to Penzance, although this has since closed. The other building is private accommodation but a
camping coach in the old sidings can be rented for holidays.ervices
St Germans is served by about half the trains on the
Cornish Main Line between Penzance and Plymouth, including a few that run through toLondon Paddington station . One of the local services to Penzance each Saturday starts atLondon Waterloo station and is operated bySouth West Trains . [cite web |title = National Rail Timetable 135 (Winter 2007)|publisher= Network Rail|url = http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/eNRT/Dec07/timetables/Table135.pdf|format=PDF ]References
Further reading
*The records of the Cornwall Railway can be consulted at
The National Archives at Kew.External links
* [http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~owend/interests/rail/stnpages/stgermans.html British Railway Stations - St Germans]
* [http://www.railholiday.co.uk Railholiday camping coaches]
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