Looe Valley Line

The Looe Valley Line is a 13.5 km long, in 1860, opened railway line in Cornwall (United Kingdom), which connects the twin cities of East Looe and West Looe on the English Channel coast with Liskeard on the main line ( London ) Plymouth - Penzance. It is traveled by passenger trains of the railway company First Great Western, which is supported within the framework of a Community Rail project by local organizations.

Route

Between Looe and Coombe Junction, and in the following, only traffic in the freight section to Moor Water the Looe Valley Line follows the eponymous river East Looe River and the former Liskeard and Looe - Union Canal. South of the station Sandwell, the river forms an estuary, at the eastern end runs along the railway line.

Unusual is the connection of branch line to the main line in Liskeard: Since the latter is significantly higher than the valley of the East Looe River, could not be made directly to the connection between a few hundred meters of each other stations located Coombe and Liskeard. Instead came a sweeping bow, in the course of which coming from the south Looe Valley Line, the mainline Plymouth - Penzance passes under and ends on the north side of the station Liskeard at a 90 degree angle to the rails of the main track. Is there a track connection with a tight radius for freight trains and vehicle overpasses.

The four intermediate stops of the Looe Valley Line, Coombe Junction Halt, St Keyne Wishing Well Halt, Cause country and Sandplace, each tap only small hamlets and contribute only to a small extent to the ridership of the route at.

Station Looe

The terminus of the route has a track, the exit is located in the direction of travel left. Originally were located south of the station in addition to a connection to the port ( Buller Quay ) other track systems for turning the trains, but became obsolete with the use of railcars. The siding outside the station was placed in November 1963 out of service and cut the line on April 28, 1968 by approximately 100 m; the police station now stands where the station once was. The line kilometering was not adjusted as a result of this reduction, so that the official route endpoint are no more tracks.

The Roadmap 2006 /07 81 022 passengers use the station, around 10,000 more than last year.

History

Since 1828 the Liskeard and Looe Union Canal - Moor Water Association near Liskeard Looe with on the coast, on the next funded agricultural goods, especially in the Caradon Hill north of Moor Water Copper ore was transported. With the intensification of mining in the 1840s was the Liskeard and Caradon Railway ( LCR), the South Caradon mine to the port channel connected in Moor Water from November 1844 and was initially operated as a horse-drawn tram. As a result, a further increase in traffic, the construction of a railway line was decided in parallel to the existing channel on May 11, 1858. The Looe Valley Line of the Liskeard and Looe Railway ( LLR) was opened on December 27, 1860. Both routes were initially exclusively to freight.

LCR and LLR were two separate private railways, however, worked closely together. 1862 was the management of the Liskeard and Looe Railway Liskeard and Caradon by the Railway. The LLR adopted on September 11, 1879 on passenger and scored by the emergence of tourism profits. Beginning in 1901, the LCR was leased by the Liskeard and Looe Railway.

As of 1877 there were considerations to reconnect isolated from the rest of the rail network links the LCR and LLR with the mainline Plymouth to Penzance Great Western Railway ( GWR ). In addition to overcome the height difference, however, was the difficulty that the routes of the LCR and LLR from the beginning were performed in standard gauge, but the GWR was a broad gauge railway. Only after the 1892 closed gauging the GWR routes planning the link was intensified. 1898 began construction of the connection Coombe Liskeard, which was opened on 15 May 1901.

From 25 May 1909, the GWR took over the management of both the LCR and the LLR. With further decrease in cargo volume, however, the LCR was deficient, so that the operation was set north of Moor Water January 1, 1917. Under the so -called Groupings the LLR and thus the Looe Valley Line in 1923 reached final GWR and was transferred in 1948 with this in the newly formed British Rail.

In the 1960s, the Looe Valley Line was one of the measures provided for under Richard Beechings report "The Reshaping of British Railways " for the decommissioning of lines whose operation was, however, still continued at the initiative of the then Minister of Transport Barbara Castle.

Current operation

In passenger transport, the route is today traveled by the train company First Great Western. Monday to Saturday, otherwise nine pairs of trains are from May to September twelve, offered. On Sundays only takes place from May to September traction in the amount of eight pairs of trains. Are used railcars of series 150 and 153, with only one vehicle is on the track.

The operation of the Looe Valley Line as part of a community rail project is supported by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership since 1992. On a voluntary basis are activities to improve the marketing of the web, implemented for example by the operation of a ticket and information counter at Looe train station in the summer or the establishment of thematic, adjoining the railway stations trails.

Freight transport takes place only on the northern section Liskeard -Moor Water, where Freightliner promoted sporadically trains with cement.