Teignmouth railway station

Teignmouth railway station is on the Exeter to Plymouth line and serves the town of Teignmouth in Devon, England. It is 14 miles 78 chains (24.1 km) down the line from Exeter St Davids and 208 miles 70 chains (336.2 km) measured from London Paddington via Bristol Temple Meads.

Teignmouth
Location	Teignmouth, Devon, Teignbridge England
Coordinates	50.548°N 3.495°W
Grid reference	SX942731
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	TGM
Classification	DfT category D
History
Original company	South Devon Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Key dates
Opened	1846
Rebuilt	1895
Passengers
2015/16	0.640 million
2016/17	0.681 million
2017/18	0.694 million
2018/19	0.706 million
2019/20	0.691 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

It is operated by Great Western Railway.

History

The station was opened by the South Devon Railway Company on 30 May 1846 as the terminus of its first section from Exeter.[1] 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'.[2]

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.[3] 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.

The canopy and buildings of 1895 still stand

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.[4] 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

• Mr. Gardener/Gardner ???? - 1863[5] (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[6] (afterwards station master at Plymouth North Road)
• A.E. Collins 1928 - 1936[7]
• F.W. Price ???? - 1940[8]
• F. Helmore 1940 - ????
• P.G. Tremethick 1943 - 1949[9] (formerly station master at Barnstaple)
• W.J.E. Ellwood 1949 - 1954[10] (afterwards station master at Chippenham)

Description

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

It is constructed out of dark grey rubble stone. The main entrance and booking office is on the platform used by trains to Paignton. All the main facilities, including a café, are situated on this platform. When the booking office is closed access to the station is through the gates adjacent to the wide footbridge which links the main platform to the one used by trains towards Dawlish and Exeter. It is the second busiest station on the Riviera Line after Newton Abbot.

Services

142009 calls with an Exmouth to Paignton service

Teignmouth is served by Great Western Railway local trains in both directions on an approximately hourly basis during the day - more frequent at peak times. Most trains run between Exmouth and Paignton; on Sundays the service is less frequent and most trains only run between Exeter St Davids and Paignton.[11] A few Great Western Railway trains from Bristol Temple Meads/Cardiff or from London Paddington also call at Teignmouth[11] as do CrossCountry services from the North of England.[12] Most of these services, including the Torbay Express from Paddington, continue to Paignton but a few run instead to Plymouth and even Penzance. 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.

References

1. Gregory, R H (1982). The South Devon Railway. Salisbury: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-286-2.
2. Awdry, Christopher (1992). Brunel's Broad Gauge Railway. Sparkford: Oxford Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-860935-04-9.
3. Kay, Peter (1991). Exeter - Newton Abbot: A Railway History. Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing. ISBN 1-872524-42-7.
4. Oakley, Mike (2007). Devon Railway Stations. Wimbourne: The Dovecote Press. ISBN 978-1-904349-55-6.
5. "Changes on the South Devon Railway". Western Daily Mercury. England. 6 June 1863. Retrieved 23 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "Mr. H.F. Kelley". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. England. 26 September 1928. Retrieved 23 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Presentation at Teignmouth". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. England. 31 January 1936. Retrieved 23 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Teignmouth Stationmaster". Western Morning News. England. 9 January 1940. Retrieved 23 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Stationmaster Retiring". Torbay Express and South Devon Echo. England. 27 June 1949. Retrieved 23 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "New Stationmaster". Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser. England. 18 September 1954. Retrieved 23 September 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. Table 135 National Rail timetable, May 2016
12. Table 51 National Rail timetable, May 2016

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 anticlockwise	Dawlish 3 miles (5 km)
Next station clockwise	Torquay 11 miles (18 km)