Great Western Coffee Shop

Tomorrow I am moving 'up country' to Liskeard, 1 mile or so up hill from Coombe Junction which we know as the UK's second quietest station, 26 passenger entrances and exits in 2014-15.

Now I've had a genius idea to single handedly double the stations usage, every Saturday morning walk The mile or so down hill to Coombe Junction, and then catch the 0929 back up the hill to Liskeard as my house is a 3-4 minute walk from Liskeard station.

If I do this weekly I double the station usage single handedly as I would make 52 entrances alone, it benefits me with a little walk down hill without the steep hill back up doing it the other way round. (If I get some days off in the week I could more than double the usage)

For this to work I need there to be a Coombe junction to Liskeard single, and for the guard to be able to sell me the ticket, are these both likely or is there a rover style ticket on the branch that eliminates A to B destinations?

In cases like this, I would rely entirely upon whatever bignosemac suggests: he has a remarkable talent for sniffing out such tickets.  ;) :-X

It would have to be point to point tickets for the journeys to definitely be recorded for statistics. Station usage figures are based on ticket sales data recorded in rail industry systems. With no origin or destination on Rovers or Rangers there's no way to record actual journeys made with them. However they may have weighted estimates for the stations covered - don't know that for certain though.

It is unlikely that Coombe Junction Halt has ever figured in an official passenger count, which is another method used to estimate station usage.

Off Peak Day Single on the Saturday 0929 will cost you ^2.30. ^1.50 if you've got a railcard.

There is a Day Ranger for the whole Looe Valley Line - ^4.30/^2.85. The line can also be travelled on with a Ride Cornwall Day Ranger, a Freedom of Devon Cornwall Rover and a Freedom of the South West Rover.

See what I mean?  ;) :D ;D

Or you could just walk to Liskeard station and buy 52 singles from Coombe Junction Halt to Liskeard (^78.00 total with your D+C Railcard). Save the time and effort!  ;)

Or buy a return for an extra 10p - that way the number of entrances and exits doubles to 104!

Before you buy returns, check with the Friends of Coombe Junction and check that they'll (s)he'll welcome such a distortion of ORR stats for years to come. 

At "Save the train" - as it was in those days - life was complicated by the sale of tickets which started at Melksham to the Bristol area, but were sold at (and and used for) journeys from intermediate West Wilts stations with better services into the Bristol area. It meant that calculations using the figure were either rejected as being "based on flawed data", treated with suspicion, or considered to be a cheat if not footnoted / amended to estimate real numbers.

 O

We (Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership) have done regular passenger counts on the line.  Don't think we have ever found an actual passenger getting on or off at Coombe Jn.

I saw the full origin and destination details for Coombe (and the rest of Cornwall) a few years ago.  That year, Coombe had 42 journeys.  As I remember, most were long distance - Selby sticks in the mind.

A good exercise routine, Rich!

Evidently, in the days of steam on the branch, Liskeard Grammar School pupils, if they missed the train at Liskeard, would run down the hill and catch it at Coombe while the engine was running round.   

A couple of years ago when the 09:59 to Looe used to call at Coombe (it no longer does) I would quickly get off while crew changed end to get a photo of the train at the station, before getting back on, getting that service purely as it stopped at Coombe.

Thanks for posting, marky7890.  :)

Do you happen to have any of those pictures for us to see here, by way of illustration for this topic?

I have boarded as 1 of 3 people from Coombe Junction Halt before. Sadly none of us required a ticket from the station itself. I had my rover, a lady and her son boarding had to buy returns from Liskeard to Looe as there was no return working stopping at Coombe Junction Halt.

Taken in June and September of 2014. Both of the 09:59 from Liskeard to Looe.

(https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5584/14398119421_bcc416335e_z.jpg)

(https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5585/15247683991_ceb87299d5_z.jpg)

Last summer I also walked from Liskeard down the hill to Coombe to get some photos the station and the junction itself. Although I didn't get on the train. It was a Saturday so the 10:32 Looe to Liskeard train stops at Coombe.

(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/703/20432001259_f56ca4896c_z.jpg)

This was the next service from Liskeard back to Looe at Coombe Junction.

(https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5708/20438909480_1da2cd48a5_z.jpg)

Some great photos there marky.  :)

Yes, thanks for posting those brilliant pictures, marky7890.  :D

I'm rather jealous that the platform shelter is so much more luxurious than the perspex shelters we have at Nailsea & Backwell.  :o

Cheekily swap them then, I'm guessing nobody in Cornwall would notice  ;D

I suggest GWR puts a Visitors Book in the shelter   :D

There is even a BT payphone in the shelter, no idea if it actually works, can't imagine it gets any use, given the numbers that use the station.

(https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5783/20592487176_cea5fb1be9_z.jpg)

Interestingly the shelters at St Keyne and Causeland have the same type of phone in them, although Sandplace doesn't.

Compare Nailsea & Backwell Station 'facilities':

(http://i.imgur.com/NRtc6pJ.jpg?1)

 ::)

You can blame that on a Wales & West franchise obligation - these phones went in at any station more than 400 metres from a public callbox.  Someone has written a ghost story involving the one at Causeland  http://www.darklingroom.co.uk/thl2/causeland_station.html

Passenger Information Displays, a Help Point, CCTV, ticket 'office' in the mornings (sometimes...), TVMs...

Could be worse.  ;)

Oh, I know - but Coombe Junction Halt has a platform shelter with walls which go all the way down to ground level (that would be remarkably welcome when the bleak winter wind is whipping across the embankment at NLS) and a payphone inside the shelter!  :o ::)

That would explain why Sandplace doesn't have one then as there is a red phonebox in the hamlet itself near the Polraen hotel.

Up to 26 people may?

I wonder if you could be persuaded to do a daily Coombe - Lostwithiel return, as we are rather keen to boost our ticket numbers.....

Now there's a challenge for the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership to take up!  ;) :D ;D

The payphone (including those at St Keyne Wishing Well Halt and Causeland) have been deactivated since customer help points were installed.

Thanks for that local knowledge update, Rob T.  ;)

Purely out of idle curiosity on my part: how many times has the customer help point at Coombe Junction Halt actually been used (rather than misused, for example by children monkeying about)?

Secondly, is there any indication on those BT payphones that they have been deactivated?

Presumably a dead dial tone when picking up the receiver is going to be fairly obvious

What does a dead dial tone sound like?  :P

I will have to find out when i get round to walking down there!

Nothing, generally. No tone.

I'm afraid we have our hands full with the branch lines!  Lostwithiel will be a winner when the two train a hour Cornish main line service comes in in (all being well) December 18.  Should get at least an hourly service then.

Am I correct in saying that only two trains a day stop at combe in one direction only?

Four. Two in each direction, Mon-Sat.

Or all in the same direction but going different ways at the point. Nothing in the other direction up to Moorswater

Or nothing in recent days, liskeard looe has been pulled the last few days due to staff shortages.
I'm assuming rail replacements don't bother with coombe junction? I wouldn't want to take a bus down near there narrow enough by car.

There is a bus service which runs hourly from Liskeard to Looe by Plymouth City Bus (taken over from Western Greyhound last year) Which goes to Liskeard station, St Keyne village, Duloe (up the hill from Causeland station),Sandplace station and Looe by the bridge.

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Rail-passengers-love-UK-s-loneliest-station/story-29253227-detail/story.html

Can Richard B comment on this?  [See also this thread: http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=16859.0]

Quote:
Rail passengers are planning to rally round the Westcountry's loneliest station.  Coombe Junction Halt, on the line from Liskeard to Looe is the second quietest in the UK with only two trains a day and 26 recorded passengers last year.
Now, villagers and rail enthusiasts are holding a 'crowdburst' to boost passenger numbers on Saturday, May 14, in a bid to raise the little station from the bottom of the league table.
Organiser Peter Murnaghan from Liskeard, said: "The station remains as a little piece of history on our railway network. It's sadly overlooked by most travellers and local people, so our event aims to breathe a bit of life into this sorry little station."
Supporters will meet at the Looe line platform at Liskeard station at 10am for the short 0.8 mile walk down hill to Coombe Junction Halt.
There they will catch one of only two daily services, at 10.52am, for the two-mile ride back up the circuitous link line to the starting point.
Mr Murnaghan said: "The cost of the train journey will be just ^2.30 - or ^1.50 if you have a railcard and it is a rare opportunity to have a ticket from Coombe Junction, a collector's item."
The event marks the 115th anniversary of the link line, which opened on May 15, 1901.
Coombe Junction Halt is the second loneliest station in the UK
It was designed by Cornish engineer, Joseph Thomas, and joined the Liskeard and Caradon railway, which opened in 1846. The line continued down to Looe when the Great Western main line opened in 1859. For the first time in more that forty years, rail passengers were able to transfer at Liskeard between the main line and the branch to Looe.
But few properties near the station now means it is rarely used with recent figures showing just 26 passengers in 2014/15.

I'm not too sure they're a collectors item.  Tickets can be purchased online or from any staffed NR station.

I wonder how many passengers will actually be able to purchase a ticket on-board, considering the short journey time and the involvement of the guard in signalling on that line?

I believe it was me rather than Richard B the op refers to, I knew nothing of the event but had the intention to do the walk down at the weekend as first weekend I've been free since moving. I will certainly look to join the event.
Maybe a worthwhile effort to buy the ticket At liskeard ticket office before the walk down the hill to ensure tickets are held?

In view of the continued interest shown in this little-used, but apparently very popular, station down in Cornwall, I've now merged a couple of topics here - and added the 'crowd burst' event to the Coffee Shop forum calendar.

Best wishes for the day!  ;) :D ;D

Actually Richard Burningham (Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership), as well as referencing your goodself with the link to your post.
I have an interest, as the Coombe - Liskeard loop runs mostly through a friend's farm.

The organiser, Peter Murnaghan, has been in regular contact with me about the event on Saturday.  It's a great idea and, yes, if there is a good turnout, I've suggested (as Brucey suggested too) that people buy their tickets from Liskeard ticket office before walking down to Coombe.   GWR have been tipped off too and Peter will see the traincrew on the train before the one he and the group will be coming back on.

Evidently the BBC have been doing some filming - with luck, it should be on Friday's Spotlight.

It's made the Plymouth Herald too http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Rail-passengers-love-UK-s-loneliest-station/story-29253227-detail/story.html#ixzz48IKfYW10

Richard Burningham
Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership

Many thanks for your update here, Richard!  ;) :D ;D

I will have my children as the wife is away, but will be there subject to weather, I am most likely to leave earlier than the group to allow for a slow walking 4 year old and meet the group at the junction in time for the train ride back up.

Maybe Pilning next (if we're quick!)??

Rich and Richard,
We'd really appreciate some pics and feedback after the event.  Good luck on Saturday.

108 passengers - paid through the organiser to bulk purchase.  Photos to follow later. Sunday Cornwall  independent and tv crew present

I've now uploaded my photos to Flickr.
Can be found here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/82289286@N06/albums/72157665931719633

Many thanks for posting those excellent pictures, richwarwicker!  :D

They certainly show the difference between an 'ordinary' day and a special event such as today.  ;D

I walked down about 10-15 minutes before the group due to having 3 children under 5 in tow so had time at the station as normally would be expected. I did notice around half a dozen ramblers walk through the station, it is on a public footpath through the valley.
Perhaps if there was a weekend late afternoon evening service then It may get well patronised as I imagine many walkers/ramblers may use to avoid the massive hill, I certainly wouldn't want to walk up the hill to Liskeard. Or even make every service a request call as the train only stops a few yards short to do its reversal. The driver would be able to see if anyone is present as long as they weren't hiding in the hut, but there is a whistle point on approach anyway.
Currently at the weekend there is 2 services each way in the morning. The 1052 to Liskeard being the last train that calls on a Saturday.

Love it ...  shows traffic can be raised anywhere.  You would need a platform capacity risk assessment if you had any more!

Thanks for the photos, Rich.  Great stuff.  I'm up in Nottingham so couldn't be there today.

While the two calls in each direction (Mon - Sat) can certainly be shifted, given the historic low use of Coombe Jn, the bigger priority is to make sure the Looe Valley Line trains have the best possible connections at Liskeard and, of course, more stops at Coombe Jn wouldn't help this.  There really is no traffic and not much likelihood of it apart from events like today.  The station's current usage isn't anything new, I'm afraid, and it's not without a lot of trying, which has greatly increased use of the branch line itself, I'm pleased to say.  Sorry to be a wet blanket.

The issue with making it a request stop in all trains is that the trains would have to be timed for the request stop to be used, hence in practice, all trains would end up calling at Coombe Junction.

When the Cornwall Resignalling finally surfaces, Coombe No.1 Ground Frame will be abolished and the connection will be power worked from TVSC. The time saved from not having to operate the Ground Frame twice for each journey could then be used to allow reversal at the halt rather than at the junction points ;)

Thank you rich for the photos and reports.

You mention connections at liskeard, when I was living in Redruth we always wanted to visit looe, however never did due to poor connections at liskeard. I haven't looked recently but there was always a long wait at liskeard.
Today I caught the 1751 liskeard to Penzance, passengers from the branch only made the service due to late running on the main line, as the branch line was scheduled to arrived a few minutes after the main line was scheduled to depart.

Radio Cornwall picked up on the occasion giving a fair bit of coverage pre-event, and now post event. Radio Cornwall have a video from the day on their Facebook page. The camera man didn't travel so no internal footage from the trip.
The amount of media coverage can only do good for the station in the next few weeks at least!

Ps I got near the front for the tv camera, my daughters bright pink coat stands out like sore thumb!

Not knowing the area, I do hope that your photo at the link below is of a disused part of the  track. Looks a bit dangerous / pointless to me.  ;)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/82289286@N06/26936563211

Cannot decide if you are jesting!
But if you are not, then this is the freight connection to Moorswater which is protected from the passenger section at Coombe by a trap point (as pictured).

Ah, Ok. I had to look up the meaning of  trap points. I now see that the points in the photo are deliberately set to derail a train and not accidentally as I first assumed.

One more person to add to the stats for Coombe Junction Halt - I was there yesterday.

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/cjh3.jpg)
(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/cjh1.jpg)
(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/cjh2.jpg)

But did you get a coombe junction ticket? From talking to staff most users have Rovers using it to cover all stations etc and don't buy a ticket with it as origin or destination, so don't count as a exit/entry.

I did - to boost two station's figures!

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/cjhtck.jpg)

I am on 2 st keyne journeys and 5 coombe junction journeys year to date. I think I'm on 1 Sandplace as well. I go out walking but decide against walking back up the hill afterwards. (I live 2-3 minute walk from liskeard station)

Had lunch in Liskeard yesterday.  Got an £8 Plymouth City bus rover and caught the bus from Looe to Polperro, Polperro to St Keynes - and then walked the 15 minutes down the hill to the railway station.  Then bus from Liskeard to Plymouth (the long way and including the Torpoint ferry) and then Plymouth Gin shop to the railway station.  Good value I reckon.

I did the pcb long way round on Wednesday. The driver thought I was mad going the 2 hr route rather than the quick way.
And I've just gone 3 better than you, although the opportunity was available for a free ride I bought our tickets when we arrived at liskeard
(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p94/richardwarwicker/Mobile%20Uploads/image.jpg) (http://s126.photobucket.com/user/richardwarwicker/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image.jpg.html)

The prices of those various tickets are absolutely absurd!  :o ::) ;D

And I love the 'Route - Any Permitted'  :P

Up to 4 Children go anywhere with an adult on a Devon and Cornwall railcard for a quid, so a child could accompany it's adult for a quid from Penzance to Axminster, Tivvy parkway or Barnstaple being the 3 extremes. Can't complain at that!
I bought an child ticket for my child under 5 just to make the payment a round £5 and help figures along, I now Need a pound coin for the Tamar bridge toll in the morning!  ::)
(I've got the 50p in my car already)

A child return from Coombe to St Keyne is £0.85, so you get 2 entries/exits at 2 little used stations for that price.  That must be one of the most cost effective way of distorting the station stats.

A weekly season from Coombe to Plymouth costs the same as a weekly season from Liskeard to Plymouth - an even more effective way of distorting the figures if you happen to live in the Liskeard catchment.  And it could be argued that this is totally valid ticketing if you may want to extend your odd journey.

With all the ranger, rover, getting off short and joining late that goes on (differing out and in on the same return due to lack of trains at one end of the day) at some of these places, the numbers are - and are known to be - a bit out.  Morally it feels good to help the station through helping ticket sales, and it surely helps water down headlines of "in the least used 10 in the UK".  At a more detailed forward planning level, significant distortions (and I'm not thinking so much Coombe) can be a headache to the extent that ticket sales aren't considered to give  proper view of station use.

£1.15 single, £1.20 return for a child.

Oops sorry I was looking at Coombe-Liskeard!

I did it again today, this time a Coombe to Looe return, with an over-distance excess on the return setting me back a further 20p

Out of interest because of the overdistance excess does the system now know I didn't exit at Coombe on the way back, thus not counting me?

For the 4th consecutive time, no opportunity to buy a ticket on board from Coombe Junction to Liskeard. I go into the ticket office at Liskeard but I imagine the vast majority don't.
The guard normally goes in to the back cab and doesn't reappear.

"Bloody hell, not 'im again"

Its every guard, bar one who got excited to sell me a ticket! I'm guessing there is something valid to do on that last 10 minutes as there is always a staff change at Liskeard. It means a station with low usage figures is generally a free ride, unless people like me who want a ticket for the sake of it!

I slightly massaged the figures today, buying a Liskeard to Coombe return as I passed the TVM at Liskeard on my way down. Walked the outbound leg, and train the return - who'd want to walk up that hill! As always no ticket check between Coombe and Liskeard. I stand by my opinion passenger figures are higher than stated due to the lack of opportunity to purchase. To this date only one opportunity to purchase has been presented to me when boarding at Coombe, and that was by a member of staff I know of from enthusiast pages on Facebook, and she was excited to sell a ticket!

(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2896/33972716706_02b6ba6424_b.jpg)

I still envy you that robust platform shelter.  We just have basic perspex 'bus shelters', on our Great Western main line platforms at Nailsea & Backwell Station.  ::)

I don't think you have as long to wait if you just miss a train at Nailsea and Backwell though  ;D

Nice to see 153305 "Caspar" made it safely across the Tamar after being in Swindon.

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/swicasp.jpg)

Today the green 153 is on the Looe.  ::)

Tanks a bit clogged up then?  :o  ;D

Which one ?   There's 2 of them now :) :)

It's OK.  Have found out it's 153318.   The other one, 153368 is working on the Devon Metro.