The railway to Exmouth was opened on 1 May 1861. The first train started from Exeter Station comprising eleven carriages drawn by the engine Comet. The train with its complement of 150 passengers arrived in Exmouth at 8.16am. New docks designed by Eugenius Birch were opened in 1866 and a short branch was laid to connect them to the goods yard. A branch line with a junction immediately beyond the end of the platforms was opened on 1 June 1903. This ran around the outskirts of Exmouth on a long, curving viaduct, passing through Littleham and then on to Budleigh Salterton meeting the Sidmouth branch line at where it connected with an earlier line to Sidmouth Junction railway station. This route was used for through carriages from London Waterloo station sometimes called the Atlantic Coast Express and also a short while from Cleethorpes, which ran via the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway and Templecombe railway station. The line was closed to all traffic on 6 March 1967 following publication of the report The Reshaping of British Railways. The original station consisted of a single platform with a track on either side. It was rebuilt with four platform faces, opening on 20 July 1924. An engine shed was provided from the earliest days on the east side of the station, opposite the platforms. It was closed on 8 November 1963 following the introduction of DMU services on the line. The signal box was closed on 10 March 1968 after which only one train was allowed south of and only one platform of the four-platform station was required. The station building was demolished and replaced with the present building. A single face was opened on 2 May 1976. The eastern side of the station was used for a new road which opened on 10 December 1981; the town's bus station and a swimming and sports centre are also built on the old station site. Following the privatisation of British Rail the station was operated byWales & West from 1997 to 2001 and Wessex Trains from 14 October 2001 until 31 March 2006 when operation of the station transferred to Great Western Railway.
Description
There is a single platform, on the right when arriving from Exeter.
Services
Exmouth is served by trains on the Avocet Line from Exmouth to and. Connections are available at for services to,,,, and London Waterloo; passengers for other main line stations change at Exeter St Davids.
