Lympstone Commando railway station
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 | ||||
| Manager | Great Western Railway | ||||
| Platforms | 1 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | LYC[1] | ||||
| Classification | DfT category F2 | ||||
| History | |||||
Original company | British Rail | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 3 May 1976 | Opened | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2020/21 |  19,050 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  76,134 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 83,160 | ||||
| 2023/24 | 79,010 | ||||
| 2024/25 | 86,996 | ||||
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Lympstone Commando railway station serves the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines on the Avocet Line between Exton and Lympstone Village, in Devon, England. The station is 6 miles 23 chains (10.1 km) from Exmouth Junction, around 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from St James' Park.[2]
Whilst signs on the station platform state that passengers alighting must have business with the Camp, the general public can access the station via a public footpath.
History
[edit]The station was opened on 3 May 1976 by British Rail.[3] This caused some confusion with the older Lympstone railway station, which was consequently renamed Lympstone Village.[4] It was built using cast platform sections recovered from Weston Milton, where the track had been singled and one platform was no longer required.[5]
On 28 May 2010, a section of the Exe Estuary Trail opened between Lympstone and Exton;[6] this runs between the platform and the entrance to the camp.[7] As a result, the public can now access the station, although the sign on the platform continues to state that "persons alighting here must have business with the camp."[3] 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; however, people wishing to take photographs from the platform should inform the guard room at the Commando Training Centre beforehand.[8]
In November 2020, the platform was extended by 25 m (82 ft) to make it 89 m (292 ft) long.[9]
Facilities
[edit]The station, due to its connection with the Commando Centre, only has a shelter and a help point.[10] As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.
Services
[edit]
Great Western Railway (GWR) operate all trains serving the station. Trains stop here on a generally hourly basis between Exmouth and Paignton, via Exeter St Davids; however, all services call here on Saturdays.[11]
It is a request stop, meaning that passengers wishing to alight 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 towards Exeter St Davids |
Great Western Railway | Lympstone Village towards Exmouth | ||
Passenger volume
[edit]| 2004–05 | 2005–06 | 2006–07 | 2007–08 | 2008–09 | 2009–10 | 2010–11 | 2011–12 | 2012–13 | 2013–14 | 2014–15 | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023–24 | 2024–25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entries and exits | 55,875 | 62,141 | 64,024 | 57,766 | 65,146 | 60,558 | 47,660 | 38,590 | 39,038 | 55,910 | 54,972 | 54,026 | 64,690 | 61,450 | 64,294 | 69,846 | 19,050 | 76,134 | 83,160 | 79,010 | 86,996 |
The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.
References
[edit]- ↑ "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ↑ Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (2023). Railway Track Diagrams; 3: Western & Wales (7th ed.). Frome: TRACKmaps. p. 13. ISBN 978 1999627164.
- 1 2 Wills 2014, p. 59.
- ↑ Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1992). Branch Lines to Exmouth. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 1-873793-00-6.
- ↑ Oakley, Mike (2002). Somerset Railway Stations. Wimbourne: The Dovecote Press. ISBN 1-904349-09-9.
- ↑ "Latest News from the Estuary". Exe Estuary Management Partnership. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ See Geograph photograph
- ↑ "Lympstone Commando Railway Station - a Freedom of Information request to Ministry of Defence". WhatDoTheyKnow. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ↑ Brailsford, Martin (February 2021). "Trackwatch". Modern Railways. p. 88.
- ↑ "Lympstone Commando train station | Departures, arrivals and tickets | GWR". www.gwr.com. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
- ↑ "Train Times". Great Western Railway. 21 May 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ↑ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2026.
Bibliography
[edit]- Wills, Dixe (2014). Tiny Stations (Paperback, 1st reprint ed.). Basingstoke: AA Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7495-7732-2.
External links
[edit]
- Train times and station information for Lympstone Commando railway station from National Rail
- Photographs of Lympstone Commando by Owen Dunn