Coombe Junction Halt railway station
Railway station in Cornwall, England
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Coombe Junction Halt railway station serves the villages of Coombe and Lamellion near Liskeard, Cornwall, England, UK. It is situated on the Looe Valley Line between Liskeard and St Keyne Wishing Well Halt, 6 miles 63 chains (10.9 km) from Looe,[2] and is managed by Great Western Railway (who operate all services). All trains on this line have to reverse at Coombe Junction, but very few continue the short distance into the platform to allow passengers to alight or join the train.[3]
Coombe Junction Halt  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Looking towards Moorswater | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Coombe, Cornwall England | ||||
| Coordinates | 50.4449°N 4.48109°W | ||||
| Grid reference | SX239635 | ||||
| Managed by | Great Western Railway | ||||
| Platforms | 1 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | COE[1] | ||||
| Classification | DfT category F2 | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 1896 | Opened | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2020/21 |  28 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  112 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 120 | ||||
| 2023/24 | 140 | ||||
| 2024/25 | 224 | ||||
| |||||
| |||||
History
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The Liskeard and Looe Railway was opened on 27 December 1860 to carry goods traffic; passenger trains running from 11 September 1879.[4] The railway in those days connected with the Liskeard and Caradon Railway at Moorswater and there was no station at Coombe but a platform was provided here from 1896 and trains would call to set down passengers going to Liskeard if they notified the guard, as the steep road from Coombe to the station was considerably shorter than the route from Moorswater through Liskeard.[5]
The extension line from Coombe Junction up to Liskeard opened for goods traffic on 25 February 1901. Passenger trains started to use this line on 8 May 1901 but continued to call at Moorswater for another week until Coombe Junction railway station was opened on 15 May 1901[6][7][8] All trains called at what is now Coombe Junction station while the locomotive ran around to the south end of the train to continue the journey. [9]
Signal box
Coombe Junction signal box was situated on the west side of the line near the junction, but since 1981 when the signal box closed, the points have been worked by the guard of the train using two ground frames on the east side of the line.[9] Number 1 Ground Frame is at the junction south of the station, and Number 2 Ground Frame is just north of the platform for the section to Moorswater.[2]
Naming
It is one of the only two stations in the National Rail Timetable to have the suffix 'halt' (the other being nearby St Keyne Wishing Well Halt).[10] Although opened as Coombe Junction halt,[4] the term 'halt' was removed from British Rail timetables and station signs and other official documents by 1968 (in addition to "junction"), so that the station became known mononymously as Coombe;[4] the return of the terms came only for these two stations on 18 May 2008.[4]
The station is rendered on tickets as 'Coombe Cornwall'.[11]
Facilities
Passenger volume
With 26 passenger entries and exits between April 2014 and March 2015, it was the second-least used station in Great Britain that year, behind Shippea Hill.[14] The station is the least used in Cornwall.[15]
| 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 | 96 | 59 | 32 | 54 | 118 | 42 | 38 | 60 | 48 | 42 | 26 | 48 | 212 | 156 | 204 | 188 | 28 | 112 | 120 | 140 | 224 |
The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.
Services
Liskeard and Coombe Junction stations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Coombe is served by just two trains a day in each direction Monday-Saturday. There is no Sunday service.[17] The station used to receive a more regular service in the 1960s.[18] 100% of trains from Coombe Junction Halt in 2024 arrived on time, one of five stations with this record.[19]
| Preceding station |  National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reverses direction | Great Western Railway | Liskeard Terminus | ||
| St Keyne Wishing Well Halt towards Looe | ||||
Community rail
The railway between Liskeard and Looe is designated as a community rail line and is supported by marketing provided by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership. The line is promoted under the "Looe Valley Line" name.[17]
