Teignmouth railway station

Teignmouth railway station is on the Exeter to Plymouth line and serves the town of Teignmouth in Devon, England. It is 208 miles 70 chains (208.88 mi; 336.2 km) from London, measured from the zero point at London Paddington station.[1] It is operated by Great Western Railway and is the second-busiest station on the Riviera Line after Exeter St. Davids.

Teignmouth
General information
LocationTeignmouth, Devon, Teignbridge
England
Coordinates50.548°N 3.495°W / 50.548; -3.495
Grid referenceSX942731
Managed byGreat Western Railway
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeTGM
ClassificationDfT category D
History
Original companySouth Devon Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Western Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Key dates
Opened1846
Rebuilt1895
Passengers
2016/17 0.681 million
2017/18 0.694 million
2018/19 0.706 million
2019/20 0.691 million
2020/21 0.269 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History
The canopy and buildings of 1895 still stand

The station was opened by the South Devon Railway Company on 30 May 1846 as the terminus of its first section from Exeter.[2] The line was extended to Newton Abbot on 31 December 1846. The single platform was augmented by a second one late in 1848. At this time it was a 7 ft (2,134 mm) broad gauge railway.

Teignmouth was the original headquarters of the South Devon Railway, the station and offices being described as a "primitive apology for a station" and locally dubbed the 'Noah's Ark'.[3]

Trains were worked from Exeter by atmospheric power from 13 September 1847 and these were extended to Newton Abbot from 17 December 1847 until all the atmospheric trains were suspended on 9 September 1848.[4] The atmospheric engine house was situated adjacent to the platform on the side furthest from the town, the area then being used as permanent way workshops until about 1876.

The South Devon Railway was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway on 1 February 1876. When first built the station was situated between two tunnels but the West Tunnel was opened out by June 1881 and the Eastcliffe Tunnel leading to the Sea Wall was removed by 1884, when the distinctive lattice girder bridge at the end of the Sea Wall was installed.

On 20 May 1892 the line was converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge. The station was completely rebuilt soon after, the work being completed early in 1895. It now had a similar scale of facilities as those found at other big West Country resorts which had new stations during the last quarter of the century, Torquay and Weston-super-Mare. To accommodate longer trains the westbound platform was extended in 1938 and could then handle 15 coach trains, but the opposite platform could not be extended due to the entrance to the goods yard.

The Great Western Railway in turn was nationalised into British Railways on 1 January 1948. General goods traffic at Teignmouth ceased on 14 June 1965 but coal traffic continued to be handled until 4 December 1967.[5] This allowed the extension of the second platform to the length of Inter City trains, although this did not happen until 1981. The signal box, which was built at the west end of the westbound platform in 1896, was closed on 14 November 1986 when the new Panel Signal Box at Exeter took over control of the line.

The station was closed for two months during the repair of the railway and sea wall at Dawlish caused by the great storm of February 2014. The iron work supporting the roof was repainted during this period. Refurbishing of the pedestrian bridge between the platforms commenced in 2016.

Station masters
  • George Gardner ???? - 1863[6] (afterwards station master at Newton Abbot)
  • Joseph Pearce/Pearse 1863 - ????
  • John Clarke Boundy ???? - 1897
  • W.G. Hole 1897 - ca. 1910 (formerly station master of Wellington)
  • Joseph Henry Uren ca. 1913 - 1925
  • H.F. Kelley 1925 - 1928[7] (afterwards station master at Plymouth North Road)
  • A.E. Collins 1928 - 1936[8]
  • F.W. Price ???? - 1940[9]
  • F. Helmore 1940 - ????
  • P.G. Tremethick 1943 - 1949[10] (formerly station master at Barnstaple)
  • W.J.E. Ellwood 1949 - 1954[11] (afterwards station master at Chippenham)

Description

The station is situated near the edge of the town centre, a short walk from the beach and South West Coast Path.

The main entrance and booking office are on the westbound platform; all of the main facilities, including a café, are situated here. When the booking office is closed, access to the station is through the gates adjacent to the wide footbridge which links the two platforms.

Services
A Great Western Railway Class 150 at Teignmouth with an Exmouth to Paignton service

Teignmouth is served by Great Western Railway's local trains in both directions on an approximately half-hourly basis during the day. Most trains run between Exmouth and Paignton; on Sundays, the service is less frequent and many trains only run between Exeter St Davids and Paignton.

A few Great Western Railway trains from Bristol Temple Meads/Cardiff or from London Paddington also call at Teignmouth (there are 4 to 5 direct London trains per day), as do some CrossCountry services from the North of England. Most of these services, including the Torbay Express from Paddington, continue to Paignton but a few run instead to Plymouth and Penzance. At other times, passengers travelling east or north can catch a local train and change onto main line trains at Exeter St Davids or at Newton Abbot if travelling westwards.

Journey times between Teignmouth and Exeter take between about 16 and 30 minutes; journeys to London Paddington are usually between 2h 30m and 3h.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Dawlish   Great Western Railway
Riviera Line		   Newton Abbot
  CrossCountry
Cornwall-Scotland		  

References
  1. Padgett, David (June 2018) [1989]. Munsey, Myles (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 3: Western & Wales (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. map 8B. ISBN 978-1-9996271-0-2.
  2. Gregory, R H (1982). The South Devon Railway. Salisbury: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-286-2.
  3. Awdry, Christopher (1992). Brunel's Broad Gauge Railway. Sparkford: Oxford Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-860935-04-9.
  4. Kay, Peter (1991). Exeter - Newton Abbot: A Railway History. Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing. ISBN 1-872524-42-7.
  5. Oakley, Mike (2007). Devon Railway Stations. Wimbourne: The Dovecote Press. ISBN 978-1-904349-55-6.
  6. "Changes on the South Devon Railway". Western Daily Mercury. England. 6 June 1863. Retrieved 23 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Mr. H.F. Kelley". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. England. 26 September 1928. Retrieved 23 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "Presentation at Teignmouth". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. England. 31 January 1936. Retrieved 23 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Teignmouth Stationmaster". Western Morning News. England. 9 January 1940. Retrieved 23 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "Stationmaster Retiring". Torbay Express and South Devon Echo. England. 27 June 1949. Retrieved 23 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. "New Stationmaster". Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser. England. 18 September 1954. Retrieved 23 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Further reading
  • Beck, Keith; Copsey, John (1990). The Great Western in South Devon. Didcot: Wild Swan Publication. ISBN 0-906867-90-8.
  • Cooke, RA (1984). Track Layout Diagrams of the GWR and BR WR, Section 14: South Devon. Harwell: RA Cooke.
This station offers access to the South West Coast Path
Distance to path 0.25 miles (0.40 km)
Next station anticlockwiseDawlish 3 miles (5 km)
Next station clockwiseTorquay 11 miles (18 km)
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