St Erth railway station is a Grade II listed station situated at Rose-an-Grouse in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It serves the nearby village of St Erth, which is about 0.75 mi away, and is the junction for the St Ives Bay Line to St Ives. The station is 320 mi from the zero point at London Paddington measured via Box and Plymouth Millbay.

History

The station was opened by the West Cornwall Railway on 11 March 1852. At this time it was known as St Ives Road and was the railhead for that town, which lies about 4 mi to the north. This was an important harbour with a busy fishing trade and tin and copper mines; the new railway brought it artists and then tourists. The station was a simple single platform situated on the north side of the line. On 1 June 1877 a branch line was opened from here to St Ives, which was when the station was renamed 'St Erth'. The station building was reconstructed in granite and a second track was laid on the north side of the platform for branch line trains, but the main line still had only the one track. This was partly rectified in about 1894 when a loop line with its own platform was opened, but the line was only doubled eastwards to Hayle on 10 September 1899, and westwards to Marazion on 16 June 1929. Beyond the St Ives branch platform was the station goods yard and sidings which served a china clay dry for a few years. It then served milk trains from the Primrose Dairy creamery, later operated by United Dairies, although these were taken out of use in 1982. A camping coach was positioned here by the Western Region from 1953 to 1964, there were two coaches here for the last three years.

Facilities

The station buildings are constructed of granite in an 'L' shape west and north of the St Ives bay platform. The booking office is staffed for part of the day and is located in the west-facing section which faces the station car park. The northern range incorporates staff accommodation as well as refreshment facilities which appeared in a list of the ten best station cafes published in The Guardian in 2009. Platforms 2 and 3 have a long canopy above them to protect passengers waiting for their train. At the west end of this is a covered footbridge which links with the main westbound platform for trains to Penzance, and a large wooden shelter is provided here. A small granite building further up the platform is for staff use. As with several other stations in Cornwall, small palm trees grow on the main platforms, both of which can accommodate seven-coach trains. In 2017, a new concourse and ticket office was opened in St Erth, replacing the old ticket office which was smaller. The new building now includes toilet facilities and a waiting lounge, including a medium-sized ticket office with two windows. This process also included upgraded step-free access to the concourse and to platforms 2 & 3. A new entrance to platforms 2 & 3 near to the station café was also built, next to an also new private building for staff only. An improved transport interchange is under construction in 2018. A replacement footbridge with lifts is being installed to enable step-free access to the whole station. The work was due to be completed in spring 2024, but was later pushed back to the end of 2024. The original footbridge was dismantled in October 2024 and donated to the East Somerset Railway; they plan to install it at Cranmore railway station by the end of 2025. The span of the new footbridge, which weighed 50 tonne, was lifted into place by a 1000 tonne crane in October 2024, with temporary staircases being used until permanent staircases are erected. The project provoked discussion: it was supported by local MP Derek Thomas and Connor Donnithorne, the cabinet member responsible for transport at Cornwall Council, while some residents opposed the plans. One local historian said that the station would be "losing a valuable asset", replaced by a poorly-designed "eyesore".

Platform layout

Because the main line is on a falling gradient towards Hayle, at the buffer stop end of platform 3 a few steps are needed to connect platforms 2 and 3 but at the east end they are nearly level. Standing at this end of the station the line to St Ives curves away to the left over Western Growers Crossing towards the covered way beneath the A30 road. The Cornish Main Line towards Hayle drops gently to the right with the signal box situated between the two. The Down Sidings on the right of the main line are level and so are higher than the main line at the far end. In 2022, platform 3 was extended by 6 m to allow it to accommodate a train with five carriages.

Signalling

The signal box is situated at the east end of the station between the main line and the St Ives branch. It was opened on 10 September 1899 when the main line was doubled to Hayle and replaced an earlier box that dated from around the time of the opening of the St Ives branch. Semaphore signals still control movements around the station. The signal box also controls trains on the St Ives branch.

Passenger volume

St Erth sees more passengers change train than any other station in Cornwall. The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

St Erth is served by all Great Western Railway trains services on the Cornish Main Line between Penzance and Plymouth. Some trains run through to or from London Paddington station, including the Night Riviera overnight sleeping car service and the Golden Hind which offers an early morning service to London and an evening return. Other fast trains are the mid-morning Cornish Riviera and the afternoon Royal Duchy. Frequent services on the St Ives Bay Line are operated by Great Western Railway. A small number of these trains are extended from or to Penzance. There are a limited number of CrossCountry trains (3 per day each way) providing a service to Scotland in the morning and returning in the evening. On an average weekday St Erth sees up to 69 trains, 26 trains to St Ives, 22 towards Penzance and 21 towards Plymouth. This makes it the busiest station in Cornwall in terms of services.