Copplestone railway station
Copplestone  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Looking towards Barnstaple in 2021 | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Copplestone, Mid Devon England | ||||
| Coordinates | 50°48′50″N 3°45′07″W / 50.814°N 3.752°W | ||||
| Grid reference | SS767031 | ||||
| Manager | Great Western Railway | ||||
| Platforms | 1 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | COP[1] | ||||
| Classification | DfT category F2 | ||||
| History | |||||
Original company | North Devon Railway | ||||
| Pre-grouping | London and South Western Railway | ||||
| Post-grouping | Southern Railway | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| Opened | 1854 | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2020/21 |  8,662 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  23,068 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 30,380 | ||||
| 2023/24 | 35,014 | ||||
| 2024/25 | 41,732 | ||||
| |||||
| |||||
Copplestone railway station is on the Tarka Line serving the village of Copplestone in Devon, England. It is on the Tarka Line to Barnstaple between Yeoford and Morchard Road, 185 miles 75 chains (299.2 km) from London Waterloo, measured via Andover.[2] The station and trains are operated by Great Western Railway. The station is on the northern edge of Copplestone.[3]
History
The station was opened by the North Devon Railway on 1 August 1854.[4] The railway was single track. A passing loop was provided at Copplestone but there was initially only one platform.[5] A second platform was added and in 1873 a ten-lever signal box was built at the northern end of the new platform where there was a view of the goods yard on the other side of the line. Ten years later the line from Copplestone to Yeoford was doubled, the second track being ready for use on 4 November 1883.[4]
The goods yard closed on 6 September 1965.[6] The double track was taken out of use on 17 October 1971 and the signal box closed.[4] The remains of the second platform can still be seen but there is no track on that side of the station.[7]
Rail campaign group Railfuture propose that Copplestone should have improved parking and public transport facilities, to provide connections to other local communities in the area, including Bow.[8]
1861 accident
On 16 July 1861 the 06:30 train from Bideford was waiting at the platform when the 07:45 train from Exeter St Davids was routed onto the same line. Thirteen passengers and a guard on the second train were injured in the collision. The signalman was imprisoned for a month after admitting causing the accident during a lapse of concentration.[5] The points and signals were not interlocked at that time, but a second platform was added and in 1873 a ten-lever signal box was built at the northern end of the new platform where there was a view of the goods yard on the other side of the line. Ten years later the line from Copplestone to Yeoford was doubled, the second track being ready for use on 4 November 1883.[4]
Facilities
The station has a small car park and cycle storage, a shelter and a help point.[9] As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.
Services
All services at Copplestone are operated by Great Western Railway. There is generally one train per hour in each direction between Barnstaple and Exeter Central but a very small number of services continue to or from other routes in East Devon on weekdays.[10]
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morchard Road towards Barnstaple |
Great Western Railway | Yeoford towards Exeter Central | ||
Community railway
The railway between Exeter and Barnstaple is designated as a community railway and is supported by marketing provided by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership. The line is promoted as the Tarka Line.[11]
Passenger volume
| 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 | 356 | 1,090 | 2,283 | 4,563 | 7,422 | 8,164 | 10,024 | 12,682 | 10,990 | 14,058 | 13,476 | 12,304 | 13,522 | 15,262 | 17,868 | 19,438 | 8,662 | 23,068 | 30,380 | 35,014 | 41,732 |
The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.
References
- ↑ "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ↑ Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (2023). Railway Track Diagrams; 3: Western & Wales (7th ed.). Frome: TRACKmaps. pp. .page. ISBN 978 1999627164.
- ↑ Craske, Peter (2013). Tarka Line Walks. Crimson Books. pp. 48–57. ISBN 978-1-78059-182-7.
- 1 2 3 4 Nicholas, John (1992). The North Devon Line. Sparkford: Oxford Publishing Company. pp. 35–39. ISBN 0-86093-461-6.
- 1 2 Nicholas 1992, p. 101
- ↑ Wills 2014, p. 76.
- ↑ Oakley, Mike (2007). Devon Railway Stations. Wimbourne: The Dovecote Press. pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-1-904-34955-6.
- ↑ "Railfuture | The Okehampton Line". Railfuture. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
- ↑ "Copplestone train station | Departures, arrivals and tickets | GWR". www.gwr.com. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
- ↑ "Train Times (D2)" (PDF). Great Western Railway. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- ↑ "Tarka Line". Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
- ↑ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2026.
Bibliography
- Wills, Dixe (2014). Tiny Stations (Paperback, 1st reprint ed.). Basingstoke: AA Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7495-7732-2.
External links
- Train times and station information for Copplestone railway station from National Rail