Exeter St Thomas railway station

Exeter St Thomas National Rail
Location
Place St Thomas, Exeter
Local authority Exeter
Coordinates 50°43′02″N 3°32′19″W / 50.71713°N 3.53858°WCoordinates: 50°43′02″N 3°32′19″W / 50.71713°N 3.53858°W
Grid reference SX914919
Operations
Station code EXT
Managed by First Great Western
Number of platforms 2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2002/03   45,681
2004/05 Increase 64,295
2005/06 Increase 76,964
2006/07 Increase 80,199
2007/08 Increase 82,677
2008/09 Increase 97,656
2009/10 Increase 103,488
2010/11 Increase 116,172
2011/12 Increase 137,338
2012/13 Increase 196,198
2013/14 Decrease 186,982
History
Original company South Devon Railway
Pre-grouping Great Western Railway
Post-grouping Great Western Railway
Opened 1846
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Exeter St Thomas from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Exeter St Thomas railway station is a suburban railway station in Exeter, England, serving the suburb of St Thomas and the riverside area. The station is elevated on a low viaduct with entrances on Cowick Street.[1] The station is unstaffed with the former station building now used for a bar and nightclub. It is mainly served by local trains operated by First Great Western.

History

The station was opened on 30 May 1846 by the South Devon Railway.[2] The company had joint use of the Bristol and Exeter Railway station at St Davids but St Thomas was its own station. Although built on a 501 yards (458 m) stone viaduct, the railway was nearer to the city centre and the quays on the Exeter Canal. Until 1862 tickets were only sold between St Thomas and stations west of Exeter, not to St Davids and the north![3]

The railway was worked by atmospheric trains from 13 September 1847 until 9 September 1848. Unique in all the South Devon Railway stations, there was no engine house, so the driver had to hold the train on its brakes against the pressure in the pipes while it was stopped here.[4]

The original station featured just a single track with a 175 feet (53 m) platform on the city side of the line. A small booking office was built at road level at the north end of the station and steps led up to the platform. The viaduct was widened at this point by five feet to accommodate the platform.

In 1847 some improvements were completed including a larger office, a train shed over the platform, and an extension to bring the platform to a length of 260 feet.

In 1851 George Hennet was given permission to build a coal depot at St Thomas from where he could distribute coal, brought by train from his quay at Teignmouth. This was built on the city side of the line, north of the station. Hennet died in 1857 and the depot was eventually taken over by Robert Ward. It was closed in 1884 but Ward continued to use the land as premises until c. 1930. The site is now occupied by the Great Western Railway Staff Association staff club.

In 1861 the viaduct was widened on the west side (away from the city), and a second track brought into use which necessitated a second platform be built. Elegant new two-storey buildings were built on the city side of the viaduct, and a new train shed built across both platforms.

The train shed was demolished in the 1960s and the station is now unstaffed, the 1861 building now being used first as a Chinese restaurant, and now a nightclub.

Services

A train from Exmouth to Paignton

Most trains are operated by First Great Western on the Riviera Line from Paignton which then generally continue to Exmouth along the Avocet Line. Two scheduled HST services between London Paddington and Paignton also call here,[5] although due to short platforms these trains may have only the first few coaches available to board. One local service per day between Plymouth and Exeter St Davids also calls at this station.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Exeter St Davids   First Great Western
Riviera Line		   Starcross


References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Exeter St Thomas railway station.
  1. ↑ Oakley, Mike (2007). Devon Railway Stations. Wimbourne: The Dovecote Press. ISBN 978-1-904349-55-6.
  2. ↑ MacDermot, E T (1931). History of the Great Western Railway, volume II 1863-1921. London: Great Western Railway.
  3. ↑ Kay, Peter (1993). "The First St Thomas". British Railway Journal (Wild Swan Publications) (45): 244–254. ISSN 0265-4105.
  4. ↑ Kay, Peter (1991). Exeter - Newton Abbot: A Railway History. Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing. ISBN 1-872524-42-7.
  5. ↑ Table 135 National Rail timetable, December 2011

Further reading