'THE RAILWAY REVOLUTION'

It was not until 7 July 1873 that an Act for the purpose of building a railway line to St Ives was finally passed. Construction of the railway was somewhat reluctantly undertaken by a consortium of the Great Western, Bristol & Exeter and West Cornwall Railways who saw in the failed mines and uncertain fisheries of the town little prospect of success, but were finally persuaded to come in after considering its potential as a holiday resort.

The route chosen ran from St Ives Road (re-named St Erth) station on the West Cornwall Railway, along the western side of Hayle Estuary to Lelant, and thence across the sand dunes and around the cliffs to Carbis Valley and on to St Ives - a short but wonderfully varied and beautiful line.

The contract for building the railway was obtained by Thomas Lang of Liskeard and by September 1874 250 navvies were at work. On 24 February 1877 the first steam engine passed over the entire length of the line and it was officially opened on 24 March 1877. That morning, the director's train, consisting of a saloon and six composite carriages, drawn by the locomotive Elephant, left Penzance station to make the inaugural journey to St Ives.

The St Ives branch was the last railway ever built to Brunel's celebrated broad gauge of 7 feet 0-1/4 inches, though a third rail, permitting mixed gauge working, ran from St Erth to Lelant Quays. The line was converted to standard gauge working (4 feet 8-1/2 inches), together with the entire system between Paddington and Penzance, in May 1892.

Prior to the great decline of the fishing industry between the wars, a heavy fish traffic was carried while the number of passengers carried during the summer weekends rose to such levels during the middle years of the 20th century as to tax its limited capacity to the utmost.

Then came the phenomenal increase in motor traffic in the '50s and '60s and the dark days of the Beeching era, when an attempred closure was successfully resisted by well-organised local opinion, but the old St Ives station was completely demolished in 1971 to make a car park.

Then, following the centenary celebrations in 1977 came a change in fortune with the inauguration in 1978 of the 'Park and Ride' scheme, with a brand new station and extensive parking facilities at Lelant Saltings.

The above is taken from Cyril Noall's book Yesterday's Town: St Ives, published by Barracuda Books Limited, Buckingham, 1979.

Other books on the St. Ives Branch Railway:

CORNWALL RAILWAY SOCIETY, EDITED BY Keith Lloyd

TRIP: THE ANNUAL HOLIDAY OF GWR SWINDON WORKS
AUTHOR Rosa Matheson

Also we have some historical photographs of the station.