1st April 1937
The States starts dismantling Jersey Railway
By the late 1920s, road traffic was proving itself an insurmountable competitor to the railway, by the early 1930s the service was only running in the summer months, and in 1936 a devastating fire destroyed several carriages and the station at St Aubin. The decision was taken to scrap the service entirely the following year and, on 1 April, the States of Jersey bought the route between St Helier and Corbière for £25,000. Work then began on demolishing some of the stations and lifting the rails from the track bed, part of which now forms a 7km walking and cycle route across the south-west corner of the island.
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Other events that occured in April
French catamaran, St Malo, strikes rocks
- A rescue operation swung into action when Saint-Malo, a French-owned catamaran, struck La Frouquie rock off Jersey with 307 passengers aboard.
- Read more…
Ship sinks after crew gets drunk
- When a captain attempted to bring in his ship single handed it was almost inevitable that it would end up sinking.
- Read more…
Occupation prisoner Paul Desire Gourdan is born
- Paul Gourdan was one of the many islanders who was transported to mainland Europe to serve a prison sentence during the Occupation.
- Read more…
Jersey tries to abolish church pews sale
- Your seat in church once said a great deal about your social standing, so many wanted to bequeath their pews to offspring when they died.
- Read more…