Exmouth railway station serves the town of

Exmouth Exmouth is a port town, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the 5th most populous settlement in Devon. Histo ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, England and is south east of . The station is the terminus of the

Avocet Line The Avocet Line is the railway line in Devon, England connecting Exeter with Exmouth. It was originally built by the London and South Western Railway, and was historically known as the Exmouth branch railway. The line follows the Exe Estuary ...

from Exeter St Davids (which branches off from the

West of England Main Line The West of England line (also known as the West of England Main Line) is a British railway line from , Hampshire, to in Devon, England. Passenger services run between London Waterloo station and Exeter; the line intersects with the Wessex Ma ...

after ). The station is managed by Great Western Railway, who operate all trains serving it.

History

The railway to Exmouth was opened on 1 May 1861. The first train started from Exeter Station comprising eleven carriages drawn by the engine ''Comet''. The train with its complement of 150 passengers arrived in Exmouth at 8.16am. New docks designed by

Eugenius Birch Eugenius Birch (20 June 1818 – 8 January 1884) was a 19th-century English seaside architect, civil engineer and noted builder of promenade-piers. Biography Both Eugenius and his elder brother, John Brannis (born 1813), were born in Gloucester ...

were opened in 1866 and a short branch was laid to connect them to the goods yard. A branch line with a junction immediately beyond the end of the platforms was opened on 1 June 1903. This ran around the outskirts of Exmouth on a long, curving viaduct, passing through and then on to meeting the Sidmouth branch line at where it connected with an earlier line to Sidmouth Junction railway station. This route was used for through carriages from

London Waterloo station Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of t ...

sometimes called the Atlantic Coast Express and also a short while from Cleethorpes, which ran via the

Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, also known as the S&D, SDJR or S&DJR, was an English railway line connecting Bath (in north-east Somerset) and Bournemouth (now in south-east Dorset but then in Hampshire), with a branch from Evercreech ...

and . The line was closed to all traffic on 6 March 1967 following publication of the report '' The Reshaping of British Railways''."Disused Stations - Budleigh Salterton"
'Disused Stations Site Record''; Retrieved 31 May 2016 The original station consisted of a single platform with a track on either side. It was rebuilt with four platform faces, opening on 20 July 1924. An

engine shed The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...

was provided from the earliest days on the east side of the station, opposite the platforms. It was closed on 8 November 1963 following the introduction of DMU services on the line. The signal box was closed on 10 March 1968 after which only one train was allowed south of and only one platform of the four-platform station was required. The station building was demolished and replaced with the present building. A single face (the old platform 2) was opened on 2 May 1976. The eastern side of the station was used for a new road which opened on 10 December 1981; the town's

bus station A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is ...

and a swimming and sports centre are also built on the old station site. Following the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the indust ...

the station was operated by

Wales & West Wales & West was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the South Wales & West franchise from 1996 until 2001. The franchise was operated by Prism Rail from October 1996 until July 2000, when the firm was taken over by N ...

from 1997 to 2001 and

Wessex Trains Wessex Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the Wessex Trains franchise from October 2001 until March 2006, when the franchise was merged with the Great Western and Thames Valley f ...

from 14 October 2001 until 31 March 2006 when operation of the station transferred to Great Western Railway.

Description

There is a single platform, on the right when arriving from Exeter.

Services

Exmouth - GWR 150243+150244 Exmouth service

Exmouth is served by trains on the

to and .

References

External links

Video footage of Exmouth Station in 2016 and 1970 {{Devon railway stations Railway stations in Devon Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1861 Former London and South Western Railway stations Railway stations served by Great Western Railway Exmouth 1861 establishments in England DfT Category D stations