Editing Looe Valley Line (section)

==History==
The Looe Valley Line was opened as the [[Liskeard and Looe Railway]] on 27 December 1860 from a station at [[Moorswater railway station|Moorswater]], a little west of [[Liskeard]], to the quayside at [[Looe]], replacing the earlier [[Liskeard and Looe Union Canal]]. At Moorswater it connected with the [[Liskeard and Caradon Railway]] which conveyed [[granite]] from quarries on [[Bodmin Moor]].

Passenger services commenced on 11 September 1879, but the Moorswater terminus was inconvenient as it was remote from Liskeard and a long way from the [[Cornwall Railway]] station on the south side of the town.  On 15 May 1901 the railway opened a curving link line from [[Coombe Junction Halt railway station|Coombe Junction]], a little south of Moorswater, to the now [[Great Western Railway]] station at Liskeard. The section from Coombe Junction to Moorswater was closed to passenger traffic on the same day but passenger numbers tripled. The new connecting line had to climb a considerable vertical interval to reach the [[Cornish Main Line]] which passed above Moorswater on a 147 feet (45m) high viaduct. The Liskeard and Looe Railway was taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1909 and the attractive seaside resort of Looe became heavily promoted as a holiday destination in the railway's publicity.

The section beyond Looe station to the quay was closed in 1916 and the Caradon line north of Moorswater fell out of use at around the same time.

In 1966 the line was due to be closed under [[Richard Beeching]]'s ''[[Beeching Axe|Reshaping of Britain's Railways]]'' plan, but was reprieved just two weeks before its scheduled closure by Minister of Transport [[Barbara Castle]].

===Community rail===
[[File:Sandplace 150238.JPG|thumb|left|Looe Valley Line road sign at Sandplace]]
Since 1992 the Looe Valley Line has been one of the railway lines promoted by the [[Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership]]. Passenger numbers have risen from around 58,000 in 2001 to 118,000 in 2016.

The line is promoted by many means such as regular timetable and scenic line guides, as well as leaflets highlighting leisure opportunities such as walking, birdwatching, and visiting country [[pub]]s.

The Looe Valley Line Rail Ale Trail was launched early in 2004 and encourages rail travellers to visit eight pubs near the line.  Five of these are in Looe, two in Liskeard, and one in [[Duloe, Cornwall|Duloe]], a 30-minute walk from Causeland station.  Eight stamps collected in the Rail Ale Trail entitle the participant to claim special Looe Valley Line Rail Trail souvenir tour shirt.

The line was designated as a [[community rail]] line in September 2005, being one of seven pilots for the [[Department for Transport]]'s Community Rail Development Strategy.  This aims to establish the true costs and revenues for the line with an aim of improving them.  It is also looking at simplifying the reversal of trains, considering the costs and benefits should the line be "microfranchised" separately from the Great Western Franchise, and the potential for opening a [[Park and Ride]] station at Moorswater where the goods sidings are close to the [[A38 road|A38 Liskeard Bypass]].

In 2007 the signs on the Looe Valley platform at Liskeard were replaced with brown and cream signs in the style used by the [[Western Region of British Railways]] in the 1950s and 1960s.

'''Looe Valley Heritage Project'''

In 2019 the [[Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership]] launched a heritage project about the line which told the story of its history through archive information and engaging with the local community. The project won Best Community Engagement Project at the National Community Rail Awards in 2019.