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Plymouth railway station serves the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. It is on the northern edge of the city centre close to the North Cross roundabout. It has the largest number of passengers starting and finishing their journeys at any station in the county, and is the largest of the six surviving railway stations in the city, being the only one served by InterCity trains. Originally named Plymouth North Road, it was opened in 1877 as a joint station for the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the London and South Western Railway (LSWR). It was expanded in 1908 but a major rebuilding scheme that started in 1938 was delayed by the Second World War and was not completed until 1962. John Betjeman commented unfavourably on its new form in his introduction to ''The Book of the Great Western'': ::''Plymouth (North Road) dullest of stations and no less dull now it has been rebuilt in copybook contemporary.'' It is operated by Great Western Railway, being on the Exeter to Plymouth line by track from London Paddington station and has train services operated by them and CrossCountry. The Panel Signal Box at the station controls all trains between (but not at) in Devon, and in Cornwall. ==History== The first railway station in Plymouth was opened by the South Devon Railway on 2 April 1849 at Millbay, on the site now occupied by the Plymouth Pavilions. This company amalgamated with the GWR in 1876, just as the LSWR was completing its rival route from London to Plymouth. North Road station was opened on 28 March 1877 to provide a joint facility for trains of both companies. It was just west of the earlier Mutley railway station, while at its west end a new junction allowed direct access to the Cornwall Railway and the LSWR's Devonport Kings Road railway station. The station was built of wood and the platforms were fully covered by train sheds. It originally had just two through platforms but additional platforms were added in a scheme executed in 1908. Further major rebuilding work started in 1938; one signal box was replaced and the second moved to make way for the new works, and Houndiscombe Road bridge at the east end of the station was rebuilt. Work was soon stopped due to the Second World War but on North Road was increased when Millbay station had to be closed to passengers in 1941 following an air raid. The old LSWR Friary station was closed from 15 September 1958, following which North Road was renamed as just 'Plymouth'. Further closures during the next few years of former LSWR stations and GWR branch lines has left just six stations in the city (, , and two in St Budeaux – Victoria Road and Ferry Road) – although local passengers also come from stations a little further afield such as , , and .〔 The rebuilding work was resumed in 1956 and the new station with its large office block, 'Intercity House', was formally opened by Dr Richard Beeching, the British Railways Chairman, on 26 March 1962.〔〔 The office block was intended to be the northern point of Armada Way, counterbalancing the tower of the Civic Centre at the southern end, in the Abercrombie/Paton-Watson 'Plan for Plymouth'. The station now had seven through platforms, although two of these were converted to terminal bay platforms in 1974. One of these at the west end is usually used for the Tamar Valley Line service but the longer east end bays were used for parcels and for Royal Mail trains until the withdrawal of this traffic from the area in 2003. Outside the station a car park was provided, which was rebuilt in its current multistorey form in the 1970s.〔 In recent times there have been updates to the station. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Plymouth railway station」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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