Ashburton railway station

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Ashburton railway station is a closed railway station situated in the town of Ashburton on the English county of Devon. It was the terminus of a branch line from Totnes.

Ashburton station, along with the rest of the branch from Totnes, was opened by the Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway on 1 May 1872. The railway was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway in 1897 and this in turn was nationalised into British Railways on 1 January 1948. The station closed to passengers in November 1958 although goods traffic on the line continued until 7 September 1962.

The station was briefly re-opened by the Dart Valley Railway, a heritage railway, on 5 April 1969, but the station was closed finally in 1971 when track bed between Ashburton and Buckfastleigh was needed for improvements to the A38 road. The South Devon Railway, a successor to the Dart Valley Railway, still operates the rump of the branch between Totnes and Buckfastleigh.

The station buildings with the important overall roof and the nearby goods shed both still stand as reminders of the town's railway past.

[edit] Further reading

• Paul Karau , (1977). Great Western Branch Line Termini Combined edition. Oxford Publishing Company and Paul Karau.  ISBN 0-86093-369-5