Exeter Central railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Exeter Central | |
| Image:Exeter-central-railway-station.jpg | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Place | Exeter |
| Local authority | City of Exeter |
| Operations | |
| Managed by | First Great Western |
| Platforms in use | 3 |
| Annual entry/exit | 1.046 million * |
| History | |
| Key dates | Opened 19 July 1860 |
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |
| * based on sales of tickets in 2004/05 financial year which end or originate at Exeter Central. Disclaimer (PDF) | |
Exeter Central railway station is the smaller of Exeter's main railway stations, but is the most conveniently located. It is located on the London Waterloo-Exeter main line, and is also served by local services to Exmouth, Paignton and Barnstaple. Inter-city services depart from Exeter St. Davids.
There are two through platforms and one east-facing bay in use. The station has two entrances, the main one being on Queen Street and a smaller unmanned entrance on New North Road. Wheelchair access is via the car park from Queen Street and the modern New North Road footbridge was built with long ramps to the platforms. The station was operated by Wessex Trains until 31st March 2006, with First Great Western taking over as part of a franchise reshuffle.
[edit] History
The station was opened, as Exeter Queen Street, by the London and South Western Railway on 19th July 1860. On 1st February 1862 the line was extended west to join with the Great Western Railway at Exeter St Davids station - this passes under Queen Street and then descends a steep descent of 1 in 37 through the 184 yards of St Davids Tunnel. This extension gave the LSWR access across GWR lines to Cowley Bridge Junction and thence onwards via Crediton to Barnstaple and Bideford. The station became an interchange in 1861 with the opening of a branch to Exmouth, which left the main line about half a mile to the east at Exmouth Junction just east of BlackBoy tunnel. To the east the line was doubled as far as Broad Clyst in 1864 and throughout to Salisbury by July 1870. The station became part of the Southern Railway in 1923 and part of British Railways Southern Region in 1948. During the 1980s the station was repainted into the house colours of Network South East, the most westerly station to receive them. In the 1990s the station was transferred to the Regional Railways sector of BR and was refurbished with a new ticket office, in the late 1990s the crumbling footbridge at the eastern end was replaced with a modern ramped design, this allowed the closure of the barrow crossing at the western end.
[edit] Future
It has been suggested in the local media that the station should be transferred to the holder of the South Western franchise
[edit] External links
- Train times and station information for Exeter Central railway station from National Rail
- Map and aerial photo of Exeter Central railway station from Multimap.com
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinhoe | South West Trains London Waterloo-Exeter | Exeter St Davids | ||
| St James Park | First Great Western Exmouth-Exeter | Exeter St Davids | ||
| Terminus | First Great Western Exeter-Barnstaple | |||
