History
The first railway station in Plymouth was opened by the South Devon Railway on 2 April 1849 at Millbay, on the site now occupied by the Plymouth Pavilions. This company amalgamated with the GWR in 1876, just as the LSWR was completing its rival route from London to Plymouth. North Road station was opened on 28 March 1877 to provide a joint facility for trains of both companies. It was just west of the earlier Mutley railway station, while at its west end a new junction allowed direct access to the Cornwall Railway and the LSWR's Devonport Kings Road railway station.
The station was built of wood and the platforms were fully covered by train sheds. It originally had just two through platforms but additional platforms were added in a scheme executed in 1908. Further major rebuilding work started in 1938; one signal box was replaced and the second moved to make way for the new works, and Houndiscombe Road bridge at the east end of the station was rebuilt. Work was soon stopped due to the Second World War but on North Road was increased when Millbay station had to be closed to passengers in 1941 following an air raid.
The old LSWR Friary station was closed from 15 September 1958, following which North Road was renamed as just 'Plymouth'. Further closures during the next few years of former LSWR stations and GWR branch lines has left just six stations in the city (Devonport, Dockyard, Keyham and two in St Budeaux – Victoria Road and Ferry Road) – although local passengers also come from stations a little further afield such as Saltash, St Germans, Menheniot and Ivybridge.
The rebuilding work was resumed in 1956 and the new station with its large office block, 'Intercity House', was formally opened by Dr Richard Beeching, the British Railways Chairman, on 26 March 1962. The office block was intended to be the northern point of Armada Way, counterbalancing the tower of the Civic Centre at the southern end, in the Abercrombie/Paton-Watson 'Plan for Plymouth'. The station now had seven through platforms, although two of these were converted to terminal bay platforms in 1974. One of these at the west end is usually used for the Tamar Valley Line service but the longer east end bays were used for parcels and for Royal Mail trains until the withdrawal of this traffic from the area in 2003. Outside the station a car park was provided, which was rebuilt in its current multistorey form in the 1970s.
| Preceding station | Historical railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mutley | Great Western Railway | Plymouth Millbay | ||
| Great Western Railway | Wingfield Villas | |||
| Mutley | London and South Western Railway | Devonport Kings Road | ||
Read more about this topic: Plymouth Railway Station
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