No More Haltings at the Saltings

St Ives (in Cornwall) is a busy, busy place. Even out of season plenty of folk want to visit this quaint seaside resort. The streets are thin  ...

Thin street, lots of people and motor cars do not make good bedfellows.

There are car parks, there is park and ride but a sensible tourist will not take their motor into the town.

In 1978 British Railways** provided one useful answer; let the train take the strain.

A brand new station was built called Lelant Saltings (Saltings? A place where they make - or used to make - salt.) just out from the junction with the main line at St Erth. It was a fairly basic affair with just one platform and not much else.

But there was plenty of parking!

And, in the peak holiday periods, plenty of people using it.

The branch line is short (ten minutes ride) but very picturesque, running along the banks of the Hayle River estuary ...

... and well worth the ride in its own right.

But Lelant Saltings is no more.

There is just one train in each direction which now stops there. "Why?" you may ask. Seemples. Although nobody would want to get on or off,  it is cheaper to make the minimalist stops than to go through the protracted procedures for formal closure.

And if they could get planning permission for houses on the car park (upper right in Google view below) ...

... the bean counters at Great Western Railway might think it worth re-improving the service.

Park and Ride is now at St Erth Station (but NOT quite at st Erth!).

Here is what was planned ...

... and according to Vectensian Alan, who was holidaying in Cornwall last week, it is all super and smashing. Photos of the new set-up are sparse on-line but Alan snapped a general view and thus you will get some idea of the improvement over the "basic" set-up at Lelant Saltings.

A plan may help explain it all.

The white slash across the page is railway tracks and land. The new bus pull in etc is to the north of the station building and the fan-shaped car park to the south. Google Streetview has not caught up!

Spot the station footbridge in the middle distance! Work had just started when the Streetview car ambled past on the other side of the tracks.

St Erth station has a nice little caff ...

... well stocked with yummy stuff.

No such delights are available at the St Ives terminus which has all but vanished compared with its old self. The curved platform and its associated trackwork ...

... have gone as have the station buildings. This, all bulldozed, is now an enlarged car park (usually full!).

The station (just a platform) can be glimpsed at the very far end of the parking area.

But Alan was well impressed with the Park and Ride, the views along the line and the good value fares.

So enjoyable did they (Alan and his Mrs) find the travel experience (and they are very committed motorists!), they went back later in the day and used their day rover for a second trip.

Definitely an fbb recommended ride.

**British Railways - remember when the Government ran the railways and admitted it. Unlike today when the Government still runs the railways but pretends that they are privatised!

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Rotala to Buy First's Bolton Depot and Business

more tomorrow

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 Next Eastbourne bus blog : Friday 28th June