Totnes railway station serves the town of Totnes in Devon, England. It was opened by the South Devon Railway Company in 1847. Situated on the Exeter to Plymouth Line, it is located down the line from via .
History
thumb|left|The engine house
Totnes railway station was built by the South Devon Railway Company and opened on 20 July 1847 when trains started to run on the line from Newton, as Newton Abbot was known at the time. It was a terminus until 5 May 1848 when trains started to run through to Plymouth, initially using a temporary terminus at Laira. The line was intended to be operated by atmospheric power and an engine house to provide power was built behind the eastbound platform, although it was never brought into use.The two platform tracks were covered by wooden train sheds, an engine shed was built south of the line beyond the westbound platform, and a goods shed was erected between this platform and the River Dart which the line crossed on a viaduct just to the east of the platforms.
Totnes became the junction for the Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway's line to Ashburton when it opened on 1 May 1872. This included a freight branch line to the quay at Totnes near the Plain. The South Devon Railway was amalgamated with the Great Western Railway on 1 February 1876 and the Buckfastleigh company was absorbed in 1897. Trains were suspended on 21 and 22 May 1892 while the original broad gauge tracks were replaced by those of standard gauge. The engine shed was closed in 1904 although the turntable was retained for five more years.
On 23 April 1915, 14 men were riding a partly loaded, low-sided wagon which was loose-shunted onto a siding. The screw brakes were applied under the direction of ganger JJ King, however, due to a brake failure, the wagon hit the buffers, injuring 8 of the 14 men riding.
Layout and facilities
The railway approaches from in the north-east runs south-westerly through the station and then swings to the west on a right-hand curve, which is the start of the steep climb up to Rattery. There are four tracks through the station with platforms alongside the outer pair.
Passenger volume
{| class="wikitable"
|+Passenger Volume at Totnes
!
!2002–03
!2004–05
!2005–06
!2006–07
!2007–08
!2008–09
!2009–10
!2010–11
!2011–12
!2012–13
!2013–14
!2014–15
!2015–16
!2016–17
!2017–18
!2018–19
!2019–20
!2020–21
!2021–22
!2022–23
|-
|Entries and exits
|316,214
|353,580
|384,375
|433,400
|484,465
|541,216
|563,906
|592,720
|639,944
|662,822
|627,810
|657,754
|657,370
|667,730
|700,038
|696,226
|725,038
|225,454
|575,630
|687,394
|}
<small>The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.</small>
Services
thumb|Great Western railway 'InterCity Express Trains' in the platform tracks with the signal box café and old engine house behind.
Services are operated by two train operating companies:
- Great Western Railway provides main line services between , and . Service frequencies to and from London Paddington are approximately hourly.
- CrossCountry operate trains to Penzance, Plymouth, , , , , and .
|-
|colspan=5|Interchange with Totnes (Riverside) on the South Devon Railway
Signalling
thumb|Totnes Signal Box in September 1981
In 1923 the current structure was built to the standard blue brick-built GWR design, located towards the opposite end of the eastbound platform. From 17 December 1973 under British Railways it was downgraded to a "fringe box" to the Panel Signal Box at Plymouth railway station, when the signal boxes at Brent and other intermediate locations were closed. The signal box was closed on 9 November 1987, when new multiple-aspect signals were brought into use, controlled from the new signalling centre at Exeter.
Connections
Bus services, operated by Stagecoach South West and Country Bus, connect the station to the town centre, Newton Abbot, Plymouth and Dartmouth. These can be accessed from the car park on the south-east side.
A footpath from here leads under the viaduct at the north-east end of the station to a footbridge that crosses the River Dart alongside the railway to reach Totnes Riverside station; from here, heritage services run to .