Exeter Central railway station is the most central of the stations in the city of Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom. It is down the line from . The station is smaller than on the west side of the city. Great Western Railway manages the station and operates most services, with South Western Railway providing the rest. With 2.962 million entries and exits from 2024-2025, it has overtaken Exeter St Davids (2.922 million) as the busiest station in Devon.
From 1860, when it was opened by the London and South Western Railway, until 1933, when it was rebuilt, it was known as Exeter Queen Street.
History
thumb|left|upright|There were two sidings between the through platforms until 1969 which were used by spare carriages and locomotives
The London and South Western Railway (LSWR) opened its Exeter Extension from on 19 July 1860 and its station at Queen Street in the city centre became the terminus for services from London Waterloo station, known as Exeter Queen Street. From 1 May 1861 it was also the terminus for trains on the new Exeter and Exmouth Railway. This was also operated by the LSWR but the physical junction between the two lines was at Exmouth Junction, east of Queen Street.
The final piece of the LSWR's network in Exeter was opened on 1 February 1862 when a steep line descended from the west end of Queen Street station to reach the Bristol and Exeter Railway's station at which had been opened in 1844. Here the LSWR connected with the Exeter and Crediton Railway and over that line eventually reached Plymouth, Padstow, , and Most trains to these destinations changed locomotives at Queen Street and many had carriages added or removed too. A locomotive shed was situated at the station but it was replaced by a new maintenance depot at Exmouth Junction in 1887. The space was later used for enlarged carriage sidings; further carriage sidings were situated at the west end of the station beyond the Queen Street bridge.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! !!2002–03!!2004–05!!2005–06!!2006–07!!2007–08
|-
|Entries|| align="right" |548,330|| align="right" |534,955|| align="right" |554,714|| align="right" |655,459|| align="right" |699,302
|-
|Exits|| align="right" |529,449|| align="right" |510,743|| align="right" |526,457|| align="right" |637,034|| align="right" |686,015
|-
|Interchanges|| align="right" |unknown|| align="right" |20,142|| align="right" |26,646|| align="right" |26,423|| align="right" |25,886
|-
!Total!! align="right" |1,077,779|| align="right" |1,065,839|| align="right" |1,107,817|| align="right" |1,318,916|| align="right" |1,411,201
|}
<small>The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.</small>
Services
thumb|A South West Trains service from London (left) and First Great Western service to Exmouth (right)
Exeter Central is served by hourly trains on the West of England line operated by South Western Railway from London Waterloo station to .
Local services are provided by Great Western Railway on the Avocet Line from to Exeter St Davids (from where they continue to ), which run half-hourly; on the Tarka Line from Exeter Central to , which run hourly and as of May 2022 hourly services to Okehampton. There is also a daily service to Bristol Temple Meads.
Signalling
thumb|left|Exeter Central B [[signal box was in use from 1925 to 1970]]
In the 1860s there was just a single track to the East but two tracks to the West; all the points and signals were operated on the ground. The first signal boxes were brought into use in 1875 when three controlled the extensive layout: 'Queen Street A' and 'Queen Street B' at the east end of the station, with 'Queen Street C' situated at the west end between the two platforms. These signal boxes were all closed in the 1920s. The C box was replaced by a new one at the west end of the eastbound platform on 13 September 1925. The A and B boxes were replaced by a new, larger box on the north side of the line beyond the New North Road bridge on 15 November 1927. This was named 'Queen Street A' and the C box was renamed 'Queen Street B'; six years later they were renamed again as 'Exeter Central A' and 'Exeter Central B'.
Notes
See also
- Southern Railway routes west of Salisbury
References
Bibliography
- Pages 16 to 20 contain a track plan of the station and plans for modelling it.
External links
- Video footage of Exeter Central Station