Topsham railway station

Topsham Add→{{rail-interchange}}
General information
Location	Exeter
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	TOP
History
Original company	London and South Western Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
Key dates
Opened	1861

Exeter railway stations
Avocet Line to Exmouth Topsham Newcourt Digby and Sowton Polsloe Bridge West of England line to London Waterloo via Salisbury Pinhoe St James Park Exeter Central Bristol–Exeter line to Bristol and London Paddington Exeter St Davids Tarka Line to Barnstaple Exeter St Thomas Marsh Barton Riviera Line to Paignton & Exeter–Plymouth line to Plymouth and Penzance

Topsham railway station is the railway station serving the town of Topsham in the English county of Devon. It is the passing place for the otherwise single-track branch line from Exmouth Junction to Exmouth. Both the loop and adjacent level crossing are remotely worked from the signal box at Exmouth Junction.

History

The Topsham station topiary hedge in 1969.

The station, with buildings designed by Sir William Tite, opened with the railway on 1 May 1861. On 23 September 1861 a 700 yards (640 m) branch was opened from the south end of the station, which dropped steeply to the wharf on the River Exe.

The station was initially owned by the London and South Western Railway. In 1923 this became a constituent of the Southern Railway which, in turn was nationalised in 1948. Following the privatisation of British Rail it was operated by Wessex Trains but the franchise has now been transferred to First Great Western.

The old station buildings and signal box are now occupied by offices.

Services

All trains on the Avocet Line from Exmouth to Exeter St Davids call at Topsham. There is a half-hourly daytime service in each direction (including Sundays), dropping to hourly in the evening.

Beyond St Davids they continue alternately to Paignton or Barnstaple. Connections are available at Exeter Central for Pinhoe and stations to Waterloo via Salisbury; passengers for other main line stations should change at Exeter St Davids.

The station is part of the new Penalty Fare Zone, where passengers could be charged a £20 penalty fare if a ticket is not purchased prior to joining the train. It is unstaffed, with a computerised ticket machine on the Exeter-bound platform. The only way to cross between platforms is the adjacent road crossing, closed when trains are approaching and in the station, so extra time should be budgeted if buying an Exmouth ticket, as it is possible to be trapped on the wrong side of the line.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Exton		Great Western Railway Avocet Line		Newcourt