St Ives railway station 2.95

St Ives railway station serves the coastal town of St. Ives, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It was opened in 1877 as the terminus of the last new broad gauge passenger railway to be constructed in the country. Converted to standard gauge in 1892, it is today served by Great Western Railway services on the St Ives Bay Line from. The station has only one platform.HistoryThe station was opened by the Great Western Railway on 1 June 1877 as the terminus of a 4.25mi gauge branch line from which until then had been known as St Ives Road to indicate its position as the railhead for the town. The platform was on a sharp curve with a goods shed behind it. The town end of the platform was used to load railway trucks with fish that were caught by the many local boats, many of which were drawn up on Porthminster beach, just below the station. Immediately outside the station was the 106yd long St Ives Viaduct. A small engine shed was situated on the far side of the viaduct.The Great Western Railway purchased the Tregenna Castle which was situated on the hill above the station and opened it as a hotel to coincide with the opening of the railway and the railway has played an important part in developing the tourist business in the area.The line was converted from broad gauge after the last train ran on Friday 20 May 1892; services from the following Monday running as standard gauge. On 12 November 1894 heavy rain caused flood water to run down Tregenna Hill. It broke through a wall, flooding down onto the station below from where it cascaded off the other side down on to the beach. The heavy fish traffic of the nineteenth century largely disappeared during the first half of the twentieth century and all goods traffic was withdrawn from the station on 9 September 1963. The signal box was no longer staffed and all the sidings were taken out of use by 1966.