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Starcross railway station is a small station on the
Exeter to Plymouth line Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
in the village of
Starcross Starcross is a village with a 2011 census recorded population of 1,737 situated on the west shore of the Exe Estuary in Teignbridge in the English county of Devon. The village is popular in summer with leisure craft, and is home to one of t ...
,
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. It is down the line from and measured from via . The station is managed by Great Western Railway, who operate all trains serving it. One of the
South Devon Railway engine houses South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
, which formerly powered the trains on this line, is situated alongside the station.


History

The station was opened by the South Devon Railway on 30 May 1846. It only had a single platform at this time, the second one being added in November 1848. It was provided with a
train shed A train shed is a building adjacent to a station building where the tracks and platforms of a railway station are covered by a roof. It is also known as an overall roof. Its primary purpose is to store and protect from the elements train car ...
until 1906 when the station was rebuilt. Trains were worked by atmospheric power from 13 September 1847 until 9 September 1848. The
engine house __NOTOC__ An engine house is a building or other structure that holds one or more engines. It is often practical to bring engines together for common maintenance, as when train locomotives are brought together. Types of engine houses include: * m ...
was subsequently used as a
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
chapel; a youth club; a coal store; a museum of the atmospheric railway; and is currently the home of the Starcross Fishing and Cruising Club. The South Devon Railway was
amalgamated Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan am ...
into the Great Western Railway on 1 February 1876, which in turn was nationalised into British Railways on 1 January 1948. Public goods traffic was withdrawn from 6 September 1965 and coal traffic ceased on 4 December 1967. The station became unstaffed on 3 May 1971 and the old station building was finally demolished in 1981. The footbridge, which had been erected in 1895, was replaced by the present structure in 1999.


Stationmasters

*William T. Murch ca. 1858 *Benjamin Popplestone 1863 - 1894 *Albert William Lofting 1894 - 1901 (formerly station master at Blenheim and Woodstock, afterwards station master at Lostwithiel) *Albert G. Hitchcock 1901 - 1904 (afterwards station master at Ilfracombe) *Arthur H. Lovelock 1905 - 1912 *Ernest Willcocks 1912 - 1919 *A.H. Savage 1919 - 1923 (afterwards station master at Cullompton) *Henry James Shattock 1923 - 1928 *Arthur Fellender 1929 - 1937 (formerly station master at Athelney) *E.B. Davey from 1937 *Maldwyn V. Southerton ca. 1943 *D.J. Wheeler ca. 1947 ca. 1950


Platform layout and facilities

Access to the platform for trains towards Exeter is up a few steps from the main A379 road through the village; the platform for trains towards Dawlish is reached by a footbridge. There is a waiting shelter on the platform for trains to Exeter but the other side is open to the elements.


Services

Starcross is served by Great Western Railway trains in both directions on an approximately hourly basis during the day (with extras at peak periods). Most trains run between and ; on Sundays the service is less frequent and most trains only run between and Paignton. The route from Exeter St Davids through Starcross to Paignton is marketed as the "
Riviera Line The Riviera Line is the railway between the city of Exeter, towns Dawlish and Teignmouth, and the ''English Riviera'' resorts of Torbay in Devon, England. Its tracks are shared with the Exeter to Plymouth Line along the South Devon sea wall. ...
". A few trains run from
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
to and beyond, otherwise passengers travelling east or north change into main line trains at St Davids or at if travelling westwards. There is one direct service in the morning to London Paddington with a return service in the evening. These services operate Mondays to Fridays only. The morning service to London runs via Bristol and the evening return runs via the Reading to Taunton line. The second platform (for trains to Paignton) also serves as the access to the pier used by the Starcross to Exmouth Ferry, which forms a link in the South West Coast Path. It operates on an hourly basis during the day, from
Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
to October.


References


Further reading

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Starcross Railway Station Railway stations in Devon Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1846 Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations served by Great Western Railway Railway stations serving harbours and ports in the United Kingdom DfT Category F2 stations