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The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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St Budeaux Ferry Road Station is located between Keyham Station and the Royal Albert Bridge on the Great Western Railway main line. It is adjacent to St Budeaux Square and Barne Road, St Budeaux. Originally known as St Budeaux Platform, it was built by the Great Western Railway and opened on Wednesday June 1st 1904 in connection with the railmotor service from Plymouth to Saltash. It had become such a popular stopping place that in 1906 the platforms were widened and extended to 410 feet (up platform) and 407 feet (down) in length. A new booking office and waiting room was provided on the up side and an "alcove" was erected on the down side, removed from Ford Platform. The estimated cost was £445. There were four staff at St Budeaux from 1913 to 1937 and they issued an ever increasing number of tickets (1,967 in 1913 and 5,476 in 1938) as well as an equally increasing number of season tickets,which doubled to 1,436 during this period. In March 1941, just before the Plymouth Blitz, the Great Western and Southern Railways laid in a link between their lines at St Budeaux. This enabled GWR trains to and from London to use the lightly-used Southern main line to get to Exeter if their own main line was damaged. It also meant that Southern trains had an alternative route into and out of Plymouth in need be. St Budeaux acquired the name "Ferry Road" upon Nationalisation in 1948 to distinguish it from the Southern Region one, which was Victoria Road. St Budeaux Ferry Road Station is still open but is only used by stopping trains into and from Cornwall. It has reverted to its former name of St Budeaux. Signalling Initially St Budeaux Station was not covered by signals and the nearest boxes were Keyham Junction and the Royal Albert Bridge. On Sunday February 23rd 1902, during the work to double the main line, a temporary St Budeaux Signal Box was opened. This had 13 levers, of which 3 were unused. It was closed on Wednesday August 5th 1903, once the work had been completed. Following the commencement of the railmotor service to Saltash, there was such an increase in traffic that there was soon congestion on the approach to the Royal Albert Bridge, which was still single line. A new Down Avoiding Line was installed to hold freight and railmotors so that express trains in to Cornwall could overtake them. As a result a new St Budeaux Signal Box was erected and opened on Sunday June 28th 1908. It had 21 levers, of which 7 were spares. When the siding in to Bull Point Ordnance Depot, on the Plymouth side of St Budeaux Station, was opened in 1916 a signal box was provided at the junction. This was named St Budeaux East Signal Box and so from Friday June 2nd 1916 the St Budeaux one was renamed St Budeaux West Signal Box. St Budeaux West Signal Box received a direct hit from a high explosive bomb during the night of Monday/Tuesday April 28th/29th 1941 and was completely destroyed. A new box was opened on Wednesday November 5th 1941, still with 21 levers but but this time with only 5 being unused. The previously unused lever number 6 was used to control detonators on the Down Main and Down Avoiding lines while lever number 13 was used for the same purpose on the Up line. The new box had a very short life, being closed on Sunday June 22nd 1952 and its work transferred to the Royal Albert Bridge Signal Box. The points at the eastern end of the Avoiding Line were motorised. St Budeaux East Signal Box remained in use and was extended in 1941 when the link between the Great Western Railway and Southern Railway was introduced. It was renamed St Budeaux Ferry Road Signal Box from Sunday June 22nd 1952 when West Box closed down. The signalling was again revised from Monday September 7th 1964 when the Southern route in to Plymouth via Ford Station was closed and traffic transferred to the Western Region line through Keyham. St Budeaux Ferry Road Signal Box was closed from Monday July 2nd 1973 when the area was added to the main Plymouth power box and the main line was singled from here to the Royal Albert Bridge, thus removing the Down Loop operated from Royal Albert Bridge Signal Box.
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