SHORT HOP

PLYMOUTH | 1877 - 1939

mutley-plain-station-large-courtesy-of-STEAM-Museum-Of-The-GWR

Mutley station, courtesy of STEAM Museum of the GWR

For more than 60 years, one of the shortest train journeys in the country was Plymouth to Mutley - a distance of less than 600 yards (550m).

There was no station on the site of the contemporary Plymouth station when the railway arrived in the city (then still a town) in 1849. Trains passed through to Millbay station which was where the Pavilions is today.

On 1 April 1871, Mutley station was opened to serve the eastern end of the town. Its location was by the old Eye Infirmary just before today's multi-storey car park over the railway.

When it was built, Mutley station was "practically in the countryside", as the Western Morning News said in its 3 June 1939 report of the then forthcoming closure. It continued:

What a contrast to its surroundings today. Then the nearest building to the new railway station was Houndiscombe Farm, one-eighth of a mile away.

One the other side the nearest building was in Chester-place, one-tenth of a mile distant. On the north side Ford Park was the nearest, and on the south Torrington-place.

Given its constrained location, Mutley station couldn’t be expanded so when a loop line was installed which meant trains to and from Cornwall didn’t need to go to Millbay and the London & South Western Railway arrived, both in 1876, it was decided to build a new station – the current Plymouth station - just before the junction between the loop line and the line to Millbay.

It opened on 28 March 1877. For much of its existence, until 16 September 1958, this station was called Plymouth North Road.

The distance between the centre of the original Plymouth North Road station and the one at Mutley was less than 600 yards (550m) but with the expansion of Plymouth North Road station in 1908, the distance between the ends of the respective platforms was much shorter. Nevertheless there was a good service of local trains which served both stations.

In 1935, as part of the Government’s New Works Scheme to relieve unemployment, plans were announced for further expansion and improvements of Plymouth North Road station. These would also mean the closure of both Mutley and Millbay.

Mutley duly closed on 2 July 1939 and its eastbound platform was demolished to allow two new sidings to be built.

The one main remnant of Mutley station that can still be seen is on Napier Terrace, by the west end of the multi-storey car park. It is what’s left of a ramp which used to lead down to the westbound platform.