History
The London and South Western Railway (LSWR) opened its Exeter Extension from Yeovil Junction on 19 July 1860 and its station at Queen Street in the city centre became the terminus for services from London Waterloo station. 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, 1.1 miles (1.8 km) 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 Exeter St Davids which had been opened in 1844. Here the LSWR connected with the Exeter and Crediton Railway and over that line eventually reached Plymouth, Padstow, Bude, and Ilfracombe 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.
The original station had just a single platform with two tracks which were covered by a large train shed. A second platform and train shed was added in 1874 and two sidings were laid to give a total of four tracks between the platforms. The LSWR became a part of the Southern Railway (SR) in 1923 and two years later the eastbound platform was lengthened from 600 feet (180 m) to 1,210 feet (370 m), taking it beyond the New North Road bridge at the east end of the station. A fire damaged the original wooden buildings on the westbound platform in 1927 and work on rebuilding the station started in 1931. The train sheds were demolished and new brick buildings were officially opened on 1 July 1933 when the station was renamed 'Exeter Central'. At this time there were four platform tracks – east-facing terminal platforms 1 and 4 and through platforms 2 and 3 – and two additional through lines in the centre of the station.
On 1 January 1948 the SR was nationalised to become the Southern Region of British Railways but in 1963 the Southern Region lines west of Salisbury were transferred to the Western Region and by 1967 services from London Waterloo were reduced with very few running beyond Exeter St Davids. The entrance at the east end of the station from New North Road was closed in 1966. Goods yards had been provided on the north side of the line, both behind the eastbound platform and also on the other side of the Queen Street bridge. General goods traffic was withdrawn on 4 December 1967 but cement traffic continued until January 1980. The eastbound through line (the 'up through') was taken out of use on 9 November 1969, as was the 'down through' on 13 October 1984.
On 2 July 1984 the entrance from New North Road was reopened and a new ramped footbridge installed to give direct access from there to the east end of both platforms. Sectorisation in the 1980s saw Exeter Central became the most westerly station operated by Network SouthEast but it was later transferred to Regional Railways sector which operated the services to Exmouth. Privatisation therefore saw it pass to Wales and West and then Wessex Trains.
Read more about this topic: Exeter Central Railway Station
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