Lelant railway station

Lelant railway station is on the waterfront of the Hayle estuary below the village of Lelant in Cornwall, United Kingdom.

Lelant
General information
Location	Lelant, Cornwall England
Coordinates	50.184°N 5.437°W / 50.184; -5.437
Grid reference	SW547372
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Platforms	1
Other information
Station code	LEL
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Original company	Great Western Railway
Key dates
Opened	1877
Passengers
2019/20	21,608
2020/21	16,600
2021/22	29,788
2022/23	25,160
2023/24	27,722
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The old station building

The station was opened by the Great Western Railway on 1 June 1877 on their new branch line from St Erth to St Ives. No goods sidings were ever provided at the station, but a line was laid from the station out to sidings on Lelant Wharf where traffic could be transferred between railway wagons and boats. The St Ives branch was laid using 7 ft (2,134 mm) broad gauge, but in October 1888 a third rail was added to the line from St Erth to allow 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge goods trains to reach the wharf. The last broad gauge train ran on Friday 20 May 1892; since the following Monday all trains have been standard gauge.^[1]

Goods traffic was withdrawn in May 1956^[2] and the station is now unstaffed. The original wooden station building is now a private dwelling and has been extended in a sympathetic style. The village is at the top of the road that climbs the hill opposite the station entrance. The Old Station house was renovated in July 2009^{[citation needed]} and serves cream teas. A level crossing at the St Erth end of the platform gave access to a slipway with the crossing gates hung on granite pillars in the local style. Three of these pillars still stand by the line.

In 2022, the platform was extended by 13 metres (43 feet) to allow it to accommodate trains with five carriages.^[3]

Description

The station is 1 mile (1.6 km) north of St Erth and faces the Hayle Estuary. There is just a single platform, which is on the left of trains arriving from St Erth.^[4]

Limited car parking is available, adjacent to the platform. The village is at the top of the road that climbs the hill opposite the station entrance.

Services

The station has an irregular service of up to 13 trains per day in each direction. These call only on request which means passengers wanting to join the train need to signal to the driver, and those who wish to alight need to inform the conductor.^[5]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Carbis Bay towards St Ives		Great Western Railway St Ives Bay Line		Lelant Saltings towards St Erth

Cultural references

In the book, "Tiny Stations", Lelant is the first station Dixe Wills visits on his tour of UK request stops.