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Axminster railway station

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Axminster
National Rail
General information
LocationAxminster, Devon
England
Coordinates50°46′44″N 3°00′18″W / 50.779°N 3.005°W / 50.779; -3.005
Grid referenceSY292982
ManagerSouth Western Railway
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeAXM[1]
ClassificationDfT category D
History
Original company
London and South Western Railway
Post-groupingSouthern Railway
Key dates
19 July 1860Opened
1903Lyme Regis branch opened
1965Lyme Regis branch closed
1967Line singled
2009Second platform reopened
Passengers
2020/21Decrease 0.142 million
2021/22Increase 0.304 million
2022/23Increase 0.366 million
2023/24Increase 0.380 million
2024/25Increase 0.418 million
Location
Map
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Axminster railway station serves the town of Axminster in Devon, England. It is operated by South Western Railway. It is on the West of England Line, 144 miles 48 chains (232.7 km; 144.60 mi) from London Waterloo, between Crewkerne and Honiton.

The station was opened by the London and South Western Railway in 1860. The main station building was designed by William Tite.

History

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The station in the early years of the twentieth century.

The first proposal for a railway to Axminster came in 1852 when a Devon and Dorset Railway was promoted jointly by the Great Western Railway and Bristol and Exeter Railway. This would have linked Dorchester with Exeter, running close to Bridport then through Axminster and Honiton. This caused the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) to make a binding commitment to parliament in 1853 that they would build a more direct route from Salisbury to Exeter.[2] Parliament agreed to the LSWR's plan rather than the Devon and Dorset scheme. The LSWR did not immediately start to build their route but parliament forced them to honour their commitment in 1855 and so they obtained the London and South Western Railway (Exeter Extension) Act 1856 and the line between Yeovil Junction and Exeter Queen Street, including the station at Axminster, opened on 19 July 1860.[3]

The main building was on the westbound platform. It was designed by the LSWR's architect William Tite. A goods yard was located opposite the station building with a goods shed. A small locomotive shed was soon added at the Exeter end of the goods yard where a locomotive was kept to help heavy trains up the gradient towards Honiton. A signal box was provided at the south end of the westbound platform.[4][5]

In 1903 Axminster became a junction when the Lyme Regis branch line was opened. The platform for this was on the north side of the station but Lyme Regis is to the south. This resulted in a steep climb of 1 in 180 to cross the main line on a girder bridge. There was also a connection into the goods yard on the south side of the station but this was removed on 5 September 1915. The Lyme Regis line necesitated the demolition of the locomotive shed.[6][4][5]

The platforms on the main line were lengthened beyond the road bridge in the 1930s to accommodate longer trains.[4]

The Lyme Regis branch line was closed on 29 November 1965.[6][4][7] The goods yard was closed on 18 April 1966.[4] On The main line was reduced to a single track on 5 March 1967 so the signal box was closed and all trains used the former westbound platform.[4][5] This left Axminster in the middle of a 15.26 mi (24.56 km) single-track section between Chard Junction and Honiton.[8]

The West of England Line became of British Rail's Network SouthEast sector when it was created in 1986.[9] During the 1980s the platform was again extended. This time it was southwards to allow the north end to be closed so that passengers no longer needed to pass beneath the narrow arch of the road bridge.[4]

Work started February 2009 on a £20 million project which included building a new platform to replace the disused eastbound platform. This required the installion a new footbridge, lifts and waiting shelter. This was served by a new 3 mi (4.8 km) passing loop which included strengthening seven bridges and 20 culverts, installing 12 new signals, replacing three miles of signal cables, and modernising the signalling panel at Chard Junction. The work was completed in December 2009.[10]

Descpription and facilities

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Axminster is 144 mi 48 ch (232.7 km; 144.60 mi) from London Waterloo.[11]

The station is in the Station Yard off Trafalgar Way. It has a ticket office and ticket machine, toilets, and sheltered waiting areas. There is a car park, bike storage and bus stop. There is step-free access to both platforms.[12][1]

The main building was designed by William Tite. It has two storeys, the upper floor originally being a house for the station master. Two wings project out into the car park with a canopy. Another canopy on the platform side of the building provides shelter for passengers waiting for trains. A former parcels office to the east of the main building has been converted for use as a café.[4]

Passenger volume

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Passengers starting or finishing their journeys at Axminster have exceeded 300,000 every year since 2012 except during 2020 when there were travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the reporting year 2024–2025 they exceeded 400,000 for the first time.[13]

Passengers by year[13]
Year[note 1] Entries and exits
2004–05 181,586
2005–06 176,270
2006–07 181,825
2007–08 205,870
2008–09 213,590
2009–10 211,204
2010–11 252,662
2011–12 279,604
2012–13 345,560
2013–14 355,710
2014–15 386,226
2015–16 394,438
2016–17 395,216
2017–18 399,084
2018–19 384,220
2019–20 377,688
2020–21 141,960
2021–22 303,842
2022–23 366,450
2023–24 379,754
2024–25 417,946
  1. ↑ The passenger data covers twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

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A South Western Railway train arriving from London Waterloo

Axminster is served by one South Western Railway train per hour in each direction on the route between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids.[14] There is also a single Great Western Railway service from Barnstaple which terminates at Axminster each evening Monday to Friday.[15]

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Honiton   South Western Railway
(West of England Line)		   Crewkerne
Great Western Railway
(West of England Line)
Limited service
Terminus
Disused railways
Combpyne   British Rail (WR)
(Lyme Regis branch line)		   Terminus

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 "Axminster". National Rail. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  2. ↑ MacDermot, E.T. (1927). History of the Great Western Railway. Vol. 1. London: Great Western Railway. pp. 289–293.
  3. ↑ Phillips, Derek; Pryer, George (1997). The Salisbury to Exeter Line. Oxford Publishing Company. p. 10. ISBN 0-86093-525-6.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Oakley, Mike (2007). Devon Railway Stations. Wimbourne: The Dovecote Press. pp. 19–20. ISBN 978-1-904349-55-6.
  5. 1 2 3 Phillips & Pryer 1997, pp. 116–122.
  6. 1 2 Rose, E.J. (1982). The Axminster to Lyme Regis Railway. Southampton: Kingfisher Railway Productions. pp. 3–4.
  7. ↑ O'Donnell, Joanna (1 February 2025). "Remembering town's lost railway station". Bridport and Lyme Regis News. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  8. ↑ Jacobs, Gerald (2005). Railway Track Diagrams Book 3: Western. Bradford-on-Avon: Trackmaps. maps 17B, 17C. ISBN 0-9549866-1-X.
  9. ↑ Phillips & Pryer 1997, pp. 183–185.
  10. ↑ Network Rail (2 February 2009). "Redoubling at Axminster begins" (Press release). Archived from the original on 7 August 2011.
  11. ↑ Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (2024). Railway Track Diagrams; 5: Southern & TfL (5th ed.). Frome: TRACKmaps. p. 35. ISBN 978 1999627171.
  12. ↑ "Axminster Train Station". South Western Railway. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  13. 1 2 "Estimates of station usage". Office of Road and Rail. Retrieved 11 June 2026.
  14. ↑ "Exeter, Yeovil and Salisbury to London Waterloo - Timetable 20 (May 2026)" (PDF). South Western Railway. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
  15. ↑ "D2 train times (May 2026)" (PDF). Great Western Railway. Retrieved 25 July 2026.

Bibliography

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