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Exeter St. David's
General information
Location	City of Exeter, Devon
Managed by	First Great Western
Platforms	6 (5 through and 1 east facing bay)
Other information
Station code	EXD
History
Opened	1844

Exeter St Davids station is the most important of seven National Rail stations in the city of Exeter in southwest England. Today the station is owned by Network Rail and operated by First Great Western.

History

The station was opened in May 1844 by the Bristol and Exeter Railway, which was amalgamated with the Great Western Railway on 1 January 1876.

The railway was extended westwards on 30 May 1846 by the South Devon Railway, and junctions were later formed with the Exeter and Crediton Railway on 12 May 1851 (to the north of the station at Cowley Bridge), and with the London and South Western Railway, which line climbs steeply from the south end of the station.

Services

There are two direct routes from St Davids to London. The main line is generally considered to be the First Great Western service over the Penzance to London Paddington line, but a there is also a good service operated by South West Trains on their West of England Main Line to London Waterloo. The station is one of the few that have trains to London departing in opposite directions – those to Paddington leave northwards while those to Waterloo head south but turn eastwards just outside the station.

Further inter-city services are operated by Virgin Trains on their cross-country network to Birmingham New Street, the North of England and Scotland.

Some of the above trains terminate at St Davids, especially those from Waterloo, but most continue westwards to Paignton, Plymouth, or Penzance. The first part of this journey is along the famous sea wall through Dawlish.

Three local routes converge at St Davids – the Avocet Line from Exmouth, the Tarka Line from Barnstaple, and the Riviera Line from Paignton. Trains from Exmouth generally continue to either Barnstaple or Paignton to provide a cross-Exeter service.

In addition to this core daytime pattern there are a number of other, less frequent, services. These include:

• The Night Riviera sleeping car service from London Paddington to Penzance.
• Some South West Train services that serve the local stations between Exeter and Paignton during peak periods
• Summer Sunday services over the Tarka Line to Okehampton on the Dartmoor Railway
• The steam hauled “Torbay Express” on summer weekends to Paignton and Kingswear on the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Tiverton Parkway		London Paddington to Penzance (FGW)		Dawlish
Tiverton Parkway		Cross Country Route (VXC)		Dawlish
Exeter Central		London Waterloo to Paignton/Plymouth (SWT)		Dawlish
Exeter Central		Exmouth to Barnstaple (FGW)		Newton St Cyres
		Exmouth to Paignton (FGW)		Exeter St Thomas
Only regular daytime routes shown. Not all trains call at all stations.

Layout

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The station entrance is on the east side of the line, facing the city centre which is about a 15 minutes walk distant. The route to the centre and also Exeter University are well signposted. There are also frequent bus services to the centre from outside the station and trains to Exmouth and London Waterloo call at Exeter Central railway station.

The main buffet and bookshop are both outside the ticket gates. There are also a number of local shops outside the station along with the Great Western Hotel. There is a smaller buffet on platforms 5 & 6 and a small kiosk on platforms 3 & 4.

The entrance is on platform 1, which is mainly used for trains to and from Exeter Central and Barnstaple. It is signalled so that two trains can be on the platform simultaneously, with the south end marked as platform 1A. At the north end is platform 2, a separate bay platform that is used from time to time for trains to and from the north ndash; mainly Barnstaple – that start or terminate at St Davids.

The main passenger footbridge has many paintings resembling frescoes and depicting romantic versions of rail travel. A second bridge fitted with lifts provides disabled access. When the lifts are out of action an electric golf buggy is used, crossing at track level south of the station.

The middle pair of platforms is numbered 3 & 4. The former is used by similar trains to platform 1, but platforms 4-6 do not have access to the lines from Exeter Central. Instead platform 4 is the main platform for inter-city trains to Paignton, Plymouth and Penzance. Trains from both platforms 1 and 3 can also reach this route so trains from Exmouth or Waterloo that continue westwards will reverse in one of these platforms.

The third platform block sees northbound trains to London Paddington and the North use platform 5. Various local services use platform 6 as do trains from Paddington or the North that terminate at Exeter then return northwards.

Beyond platform six is a signal box that controls not just St Davids but also many miles around. Next to this is Exeter TMD where DMU sets used on local services are fuelled. The next building is a large goods shed that is no longer used by the railway. Another goods shed is situated beyond Red Cow Crossing at the north end of the platforms, and finally beyond that is Riverside Yard which still sees a little goods traffic. Cowley Bridge Junction is about a mile away at the far end of Riverside Yard, but the junction for the Exeter Central line is right by the south end of the platforms. This line curves eastwards and climbs steeply to cross a small viaduct before entering a tunnel beneath the city; the main line instead stays on the level and crosses both the River Exe and the city’s flood defence channel before curved gently out of sight.

See also

Other stations in Exeter:

• Digby and Sowton railway station
• Exeter Central railway station
• Exeter St Thomas railway station
• Pinhoe railway station
• Polsloe Bridge railway station
• St James Park railway station

References

• Beck, Keith (1990). The Great Western in South Devon. Didcot: Wild Swan Publication. ISBN 0-90686-790-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Kay, Peter (1991). Exeter - Newton Abbot: A Railway History. Sheffield: Platform 5 Publishing. ISBN 1-87252-442-7.
• MacDermot, E T (1931). History of the Great Western Railway, volume II 1863-1921. London: Great Western Railway.

External links

• Train times and station information for Exeter St Davids railway station from National Rail
  

• Exeter
• Railway stations in Devon
• Railway stations opened in 1844
• Buildings and structures in Exeter