A damp, cold and dingy train station sounds like almost any across the UK but this one in the Cornish countryside has a hidden past, writes Danielle Lowe.

Fal Vale Station, under the control of stationmaster Saul Hodkin, is supposedly the home of a ghastly tale of tragedy, death and ghosts. So when a party of six gets stuck at the station after a rather careless use of the communication cord regarding a lost hat the night becomes a nightmare as otherworldly events keep happening.

As the stories of death, deluded ghosts singing along the platform, and the whistle of a phantom night train start to become reality those stuck become increasingly on edge and alert.

The pressure of the situation gets to the old lady Miss Bourne, a life-long teetotal devout religious spinster, and before you know it she is guided to sleep by the rest of the party missing out on all the drama that is about to unfold.

Doubts start to be cast amongst the party however and they try to enforce their strength by insisting that they are not anxious and don’t even believe in ghosts.

But will the supernatural events come to be true and will the party of six end up dead like the six that died on the train that now haunts the line?

Some of the party begin to think so.

Written in 1923 by Arnold Ridley, best known for playing Private Charles Godfrey in Dad’s Army, was inspired to write The Ghost Train after getting stranded one night at Mangotsfield Railway Station, near Bristol.

After becoming a smash hit in the West End and being filmed for the screen for the last 85 years the production still screams 1920s.

The cast is introduced in advance, 1920s music is played in the background whilst the curtains are down and the costume design, set and makeup is timely and classic.

The production which involves two on-stage couples and two singles is extraordinary because two happy couples actually work alongside their partner in this version that has a star studded line-up including Jeffrey Holland, best known for his role in Hi-De-Hi!

An adaptation would not do the script justice as so many quirky little things would require changing so seeing The Ghost Train in its original glory is beautiful and the big unexpected twist at the end of the play will not only leave you in hysterics but also shocked too.

The Ghost Train; Fairfield Halls, Croydon; Until Saturday 21 February 7.45pm (Thursday and Saturday matinees 2.30pm); £19.25-£21.25; Fairfield.co.uk 020 8688 9291