Digby and Sowton railway station

Digby and Sowton railway station is the most recently opened railway station on the Avocet Line in Devon, opening 23 May 1995. The station is unstaffed, however a computer ticket machine is installed selling tickets for immediate travel. As a result of this, the station is part of a new Penalty Fare Zone, where passengers could be charged a £20 penalty fare if a ticket is not purchased, prior to joining the train.

History

A small station known as Clyst St Mary and Digby Halt was opened by the London and South Western Railway on 1 June 1908 to serve Clyst St Mary and Digby Psychiatric Hospital. The 120 feet (37m) long platforms were built from old railway sleepers. It closed by the new British Railways on 27 September 1948.^[1]

The present Digby and Sowton station was funded by Devon County Council and Tesco Stores Limited; construction began on 9 November 1994 and it opened on 23 May 1995.^[2] It is situated about 380 yards (350 m) south of the site of the old station to serve new housing on the site of the now closed psychiatric hospital, and also a light industrial estate at nearby Sowton.

The station was operated by Wessex Trains, until 31 March 2006 when First Great Western took over the franchise.

The station has been criticised for its location being a compromise between serving the industrial estate of Sowton and the retail development at Digby. By doing so, it has ended up as not being particularly close to either, resulting in a substantial walk to either location, which lie in opposite directions. It is also on a regular basis a victim of vandalism because it is not visible from nearby roads. Extensive CCTV has been installed in an attempt to tackle this problem.

Description

The station serves the Sowton Industrial Estate via a long foot/cycle path that runs along the railway line and the housing estates around the former Digby Hospital through a step free access bridge, with divided sections for cycles and pedestrians.

The station is also a short walk to/from the Sandy Park rugby ground, the home of the Exeter Chiefs and the closest station to Exeter International Airport, but there is no suitable public transport access to it.

Passenger volume

There has been considerable growth in passenger usage of Digby & Sowton. During the twelve months ended March 2003 120,000 people used the station, but this had doubled within five years .^[3]

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

All trains on the Avocet Line from Exmouth to Exeter St Davids call at Digby and Sowton. Beyond St Davids they generally continue to either Paignton or Barnstaple. Connections are available at Exeter Central for Pinhoe and stations to Waterloo; passengers for other main line stations change at Exeter St Davids.

References