Dawlish railway station
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Dawlish railway station is 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 ...
and serves the town of
Dawlish Dawlish is an English seaside resort town and civil parish in Teignbridge on the south coast of Devon, from the county town of Exeter and from the larger resort of Torquay. Its 2011 population of 11,312 was estimated at 13,355 in 2019. It is t ...
in
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. Devon is ...
, England. It is from London, measured from the zero point at . The station is built on the
sea wall A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation ...
, as is the railway line, and has often suffered from storm damage due its proximity to the sea. South of the station, the line passes through five tunnels through the cliffs as it follows the coast.


History

The station was opened by the South Devon Railway on 30 May 1846. The wall with bricked up windows that can be seen in the car park is the remains of 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 ...
that used to power the trains while they were worked by atmospheric power from 13 September 1847 until 9 September 1848. At this time it was one of
Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...
's
broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...
railways. The station initially had just one
platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...
on the landward side with a loop line closer to the sea, but a second platform was added to serve the loop line on 1 May 1858. The original wooden station and
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 ...
was burnt down on 14 August 1873. The South Devon Railway built a new station with the platforms connected by an iron bridge, roofed with glass. The principal buildings were constructed adjoining Station Road, and the booking office was fitted with pitch pine cornice and fittings. Star gas pendent lights were installed, and a lift for taking up luggage to the platform levels. The first-class waiting rooms were furnished with Brussels carpets and polished oak furniture. The contractor was Blatchford and Son of Tavistock and the cost was £4,000 (). The new station was opened on 12 April 1875. An unusual feature of the section of line running towards Teignmouth was the sudden 'dip' in the track that once existed, resulting from the demand by a local resident who did not wish to lose his view of the sea. The South Devon Railway was amalgamated into the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
on 1 February 1876, and on 20 May 1892 the line was converted to
standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
. The Great Western in turn was
nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
into
British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
on 1 January 1948. The platforms have been extended several times to cope with the crowds and now nearly reach Coastguards' Footbridge, although the Exeter platform was shortened again in 1970. The decorative iron and glass canopies above the platforms were replaced by concrete beams and glass panels in 1961 but the glass has since been replaced by
Perspex Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite ...
. Goods traffic was withdrawn on 17 May 1965. After a major storm in 2014 washed out the track bed and made an breach in the sea wall north of the station, plans were developed to reinforce and replace the sea wall around the station area. This work, which was expected to cost £80 million, started in 2020 and was largely completed in late summer 2022. During this time the sea wall walkway was raised to platform level and both platforms were resurfaced. The platform lighting was improved and an accessible lift will be constructed following completion of the sea wall works to replace the rail-level crossing.


Signal boxes

The first signal box was provided on the seaward platform beside the north end of the waiting room but this was replaced by a new two-storey signal box on 9 September 1920 on the opposite platform. So as to fit on the narrow platform the brick-built lower storey which contained the interlocking equipment was narrower than usual, with the upper storey was vaulted out from this to give a full size operating floor. After the summer of 1970 the signal box was only opened on summer weekends or if there were problems working along the sea wall. It finally closed on 27 September 1986 since when the trains have been controlled from Exeter. Despite attempts to find a commercial use for the redundant building, it remained empty until 2013 when it was demolished during the period 2–5 July.


1921 accident

On 22 September 1921 a
Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...
to passenger train collided with an to goods train that was shunting in the station. The passenger train, hauled by Star Class 4055 ''Princess Sophia'', failed to stop at a danger signal. Cranes cleared the line by lifting damaged wagons onto the beach, where they remained for a couple of days.


Station masters

*Francis Farr Fowler 1859 - 1862 *Mr. Endle 1862 - 1863 *Mr. Quigley 1863 - 1864 *Joseph Pearse 1864 - 1866Pearse was formerly station master of Torre station, afterwards station master at Teignmouth. *Mr. Mills ???? - 1869 *George E. Bray 1869 - 1878 *Henry Ewart Williams 1879 - 1889Williams was afterwards station master at Chippenham. *Stephen A. Hunt 1889 - 1895Hunt was afterwards station master at West Drayton. *W. A. Harrison 1895 - 1896Harrison was formerly station master at West Drayton. *Richard D. Pressick 1896 -1909Pressick was formerly station master at Lostwithiel. *Harry Jennings Gibson 1909 - 1927 *W. A. Price 1927 - 1935Price was afterwards stationmaster at Teignmouth. *H. J. Vowles 1935 - ???? (formerly station master at Bovey Tracey) *G. Mitchell ca. 1949


Location

The station is adjacent to the beach near the gardens at the centre of the town. The station buildings are
Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. The main frontage is in banded rusticated masonry. The remaining walls are rendered except for the east elevation, which faces the sea, which is in
rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionary ...
stone.The station buildings are
Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. It has two storeys as the railway runs above street level and a café occupies most of the street frontage. The main entrance is at road level on the side served by trains to
Exeter 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 ...
. This opens onto a booking office with an ornate ceiling from where a flight of stairs lead up to the Exeter platform, but step-free access can be obtained through a gate from the car park beside the station buildings, which is the only access route when the booking office is closed. Access to the opposite platform is by way of a covered
footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...
, the stairways of which are contained within the building. Passengers who cannot use the steps can be escorted across the
barrow crossing There are around 6,000 level crossings in the United Kingdom, of which about 1,500 are public highway crossings. This number is gradually being reduced as the risk of accidents at level crossings is considered high. The director of the UK Rail ...
at the south end of the station by the station staff. Immediately to the south of the station is the low Colonnade Viaduct, which carries the railway above the small river that runs through the gardens and the main footpath from the town to the beach and the
South West Coast Path The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises a ...
. To the north of the station is Coastguards Footbridge, with Coastguards Cottage, now a café, on the hill above the line to the west, and Brunel's Boat House between the line and the beach to the east.


Services

The revised timetable from 15 December 2019 has two or three
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
trains per hour calling at Dawlish in each direction. Most trains run between and although some start or finish at . On Sundays the service is less frequent and most trains only run between and Paignton. The line from Exeter St Davids through Dawlish 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 longer-distance Great Western Railway trains from , or from
London Paddington Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services pro ...
also call at Dawlish as do a few
CrossCountry CrossCountry (legal name XC Trains Limited) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the Cross Country franchise. The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT) ...
services from the Midlands, North of England and Scotland. Most of these services, including the ''
Torbay Express The ''Torbay Express'' is a named passenger train operating in the United Kingdom. The Torbay Express departs from Bristol Temple Meads railway station on summer Sundays at approximately 09:15 with arrival back in Bristol at about 20:10 (depe ...
'' from Paddington, continue to Paignton but some instead run to and even . At other times passengers travelling east or north catch a local train and change into main line trains at Exeter St Davids, or at Newton Abbot if travelling westwards.


Cultural References

Simon Jenkins Sir Simon David Jenkins (born 10 June 1943) is a British author, a newspaper columnist and editor. He was editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1976 to 1978 and of ''The Times'' from 1990 to 1992. Jenkins chaired the National Trust from 20 ...
included in his 2017 book of the best 100 stations in Britain.


Notes


References


Further reading

* * {{Devon railway stations Railway stations in Devon Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1846 Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations on the South West Coast Path Railway stations served by CrossCountry Railway stations served by Great Western Railway 1846 establishments in England Grade II listed buildings in Devon Grade II listed railway stations Dawlish DfT Category D stations