Coombe Junction Halt railway station

Coombe Junction Halt
National Rail
Looking towards Moorswater
General information
LocationCoombe, Cornwall
England
Coordinates50°26′42″N 4°28′52″W / 50.4449°N 4.48109°W / 50.4449; -4.48109
Grid referenceSX239635
ManagerGreat Western Railway
Platforms1
Other information
Station codeCOE[1]
ClassificationDfT category F2
Key dates
1896Opened
Passengers
2020/21Decrease 28
2021/22Increase 112
2022/23Increase 120
2023/24Increase 140
2024/25Increase 224
Location
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

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]

History

A 1905 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing (lower right) railways in the vicinity of Coombe Junction

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]

Signalling

An image showing the hut and lever at Coombe Number 2 Ground Frame

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

Due to the rural location and limited service, the station has relatively few passenger facilities: only a basic shelter and a help point.[12] It used to have a payphone inside the shelter, but this has since been removed due to damage.[13]

Passenger volume

With 42 passenger entries and exits between April 2009 and March 2010, it was the least used station in Great Britain that year.[14] The station was also the second-least used in the 2014/15 period, behind Shippea Hill.[15] The station is the least used in Cornwall.[16]

Passenger volume at Coombe Junction Halt[17]
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
Liskeard and Caradon Railway
 Moorswater
 Liskeard
Cornish Main Line
 Coombe Junction Halt
Coombe Junction
Looe Valley Line
A Great Western Railway train at the station in 2025

Coombe is served by just two trains a day in each direction Monday-Saturday. There is no Sunday service.[18] The station used to receive a more regular service in the 1960s.[19] 100% of trains from Coombe Junction Halt in 2024 arrived on time, one of five stations with this record.[20]

Preceding station National Rail 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.[18]

References

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  1. ↑ "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  2. 1 2 Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (2023). Railway Track Diagrams; 3: Western & Wales (7th ed.). Frome: TRACKmaps. p. 10. ISBN 978 1999627164.
  3. ↑ "Coombe Junction Halt named region's least used railway station". The Cornish Times. 18 December 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Quick 2023, p. 143.
  5. ↑ Oakley, Mike (2009). Cornwall Railway Stations. Dovecote Press. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-1-904-34968-6.
  6. ↑ Beale, Gerry (2000). The Liskeard and Looe Branch. Didcot: Wild Swan Publications Ltd. p. 172. ISBN 1-874103-47-X.
  7. ↑ Clinker, C.R. (1963). The Railways of Cornwall 1809–1963. Dawlish: David & Charles. p. 20.
  8. ↑ Oakley 2009, pp. 76–77.
  9. 1 2 "Looe branch including Moorswater". Cornwall Railway Society. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  10. ↑ "National Rail Enquiries -". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  11. ↑ "Coombe Junction - passenger numbers and platform facilities - ongoing discussion". www.firstgreatwestern.info. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  12. ↑ "Coombe Junction Halt Train Station | Great Western Railway". www.gwr.com. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  13. ↑ "Coombe Junction - Least Used Station in Cornwall - YouTube". www.youtube.com. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  14. ↑ Roberts, Stephen (January–February 2022). "Top of the stops: our least used stations". Rail (magazine). No. 949. pp. 56–61.
  15. ↑ "Revealed: Britain's busiest and quietest stations". BBC News. BBC. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  16. ↑ "South West's loneliest station had 140 passengers in a year". BBC News. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  17. ↑ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2026.
  18. 1 2 "K2 Train times 11 December 2022 to 20 May 2023 - Looe Valley Line" (PDF). Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  19. ↑ "cornwallrailsociety.org.uk". Cornwall Rail Society. Archived from the original on 31 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  20. ↑ Wright, Oliver (6 March 2025). "Stations will have to display how often trains are delayed". The Times. Retrieved 6 March 2025.

Bibliography

  • Bennett, Alan (1990). The Great Western Railway in East Cornwall. Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing. ISBN 1-870754-11-5.
  • Cooke, RA (1977). Track Layout Diagrams of the GWR and BR WR, Section 11: East Cornwall. Harwell: RA Cooke.
  • MacDermot, E T (1931). History of the Great Western Railway, volume II 1863-1921. London: Great Western Railway.
  • Messenger, Michael (2001). Caradon & Looe : the canal, railways and mines. Truro: Twelveheads Press. ISBN 0-906294-46-0.
  • Quick, Michael (2023). Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain: A Chronology (PDF) (5th ed.). London: Railway and Canal Historical Society.
  • Tolson, JM; Roose, G; Whetmath, CFD (1974). Railways of Looe and Caradon. Bracknell: Forge Books.
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