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Railways
The Island's age of steam may be over, but remnants of the era can still be seen in many places
TODAY there are only old bridges and nature walks left to remind Islanders of the steam trains that used to power along Jersey's South coast.
But at the turn of the 20th century the railway was a well established mode of transport in the Island.
There had been several attempts made to build a railway in Jersey before proposals put forward in 1860 brought the idea to life.
The Jersey Western Railway consisted of a line from St Helier to St Aubin with intermediate stations at West Park, First Tower, Millbrook, Bel Royal, Beaumont and La Haule. The St Helier terminus is now the office of Jersey Tourism in Liberation Square and the St Aubin end of the line which was a station and hotel is now St Brelade's parish hall.
The opening ceremony was held in September 1870 but the trains did not carry their first paying passengers until 25 October.
In 1884 a new line known as the La Moye section was opened between St Aubin and Corbière. As this was built at a different gauge to the existing line more work needed to be done before the two lines could be linked, and a through train from St Helier to Corbière finally ran in 1885. A further improvement was the construction of a tunnel near the St Aubin station.
The next step for the Island's rail network was the establishment of the Jersey Eastern Railway which ran from St Helier to Gorey. The early success of the St Helier to St Aubin line was what prompted the plans for the new route. The idea was given States approval and work started in 1872 with the terminus at Snow Hill.
Intermediate stations on this route were located at Georgetown, Samarès, Le Hocq, Pontac, La Rocque and Fauvic, with the eastern terminus at Grouville.
But the twentieth century saw transport develop with the invention of the private motor car and later the motor omnibus, both of which posed a real threat to the railways. This threat was made real in Jersey when in 1923 the Jersey Motor Transport Company started a bus service that could carry passengers all over the Island without the restriction imposed on trains by their tracks.
Although tourism provided a boost for the train companies the buses still had a negative impact. While plans extend the Gorey railway to the harbour so that passengers would have a link with France the buses took too much of the trade. All the stations along that route had been closed by 1929 and the Jersey Eastern Railway company was liquidated in 1932.
But the entire Jersey railway network would not have come to such an abrupt end were it not for a fire in St Aubin's station in 1936. The flames destroyed the station roof and most of the carriages and it was this which finally caused the demise of the Jersey railway.
The last passengers rode the train on 30 September 1936 and Snow Hill station was turned into a bus terminus. But, surprisingly, that did mark not the end of its usage.
During the German Occupation stretches of railway were re-built and new lines set up to help move construction materials around the Island. The St Helier to Corbière line was re-established as was the Jersey Eastern Railway's line from St Helier to Gorey.
A new line was then built which ran from the Ronez quarries through St John, St Mary and St Peter to join the Corbière line at Pont Marquet. Other additions were also made to connect quarries to construction sites and a length of railway was added along St Ouen's Bay from the quarries near l'Etacq to La Pulente.
The Snowhill station had been a bus terminus since 1935 and was used as such until 1964 when it was converted to a car park and the turntable torn out.
Today all that the remains of the old railways can be seen along walks that still have the embankments and bridges that once marked the routes.
There is still an old stone bridge at the back of St Clement's parish hall and German bridges at each end of the Val de la Mare Reservoir. There is still the German embankment at Pont Marquet and the pieces of the old track are used as supports for wire netting at Grève d'Azette tennis court.
The wide paths along the sea wall at Victoria Avenue follow the tracks of the old railways and similar tracks can been seen along the coast road between Gorey Village and the harbour. There are still station buildings standing at Millbrook, Corbière, Fauvic and Samarès Lane and buildings like the tourist office and St Brelade's parish hall are historic monuments to what was once the height of technology and has since been surpassed by Terry the train.
author - Anna Heuston
This article updated: April 2004
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| ......Daily Ditons...... |
Tant pus nou-s-etiboque le feu tant pus i’ petil’ye.
The more you poke the fire, the more it sparks.
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