The station is built on the sea wall, as is the railway line, and has often suffered from storm damage due its proximity to the sea. South of the station, the railway passes through five tunnels in the cliffs as it follows the coastline.
History
Dawlish in the 1870s with the station and chimney for the atmospheric pumping engine in the right background.
The station was opened by the South Devon Railway on 30 May 1846.[3][page needed] The wall with bricked up windows that can be seen in the car park is the remains of the engine house that used to power the trains while they were worked by atmospheric power from 13 September 1847 until 9 September 1848. At this time it was one of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's 7 ft (2,134 mm) broad gauge railways.
The station initially had just one platform on the landward side with a loop line closer to the sea, but a second platform was added to serve the loop line on 1 May 1858. The original wooden station and train shed was burnt down on 14 August 1873.[4] The South Devon Railway built a new station with the platforms connected by an iron bridge, roofed with glass. The principal buildings were constructed adjoining Station Road, and the booking office was fitted with pitch pine cornice and fittings. Star gas pendent lights were installed, and a lift for taking up luggage to the platform levels. The first-class waiting rooms were furnished with Brussels carpets and polished oak furniture. The contractor was Blatchford and Son of Tavistock and the cost was £4,000 (equivalent to £480,000 in 2023).[5] The new station was opened on 12 April 1875.[6]
An unusual feature of the section of line running towards Teignmouth was the sudden 'dip' in the track that once existed, resulting from the demand by a local resident who did not wish to lose his view of the sea.[7][page needed]
The South Devon Railway was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway on 1 February 1876, and on 20 May 1892 the line was converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge. The Great Western in turn was nationalised into British Railways on 1 January 1948.
The platforms have been extended several times to cope with the crowds and now nearly reach Coastguards' Footbridge, although the Exeter platform was shortened again in 1970.[8][page needed] The decorative iron and glass canopies above the platforms were replaced by concrete beams and glass panels in 1961 but the glass has since been replaced by Perspex.[9][page needed] Goods traffic was withdrawn on 17 May 1965.
After a major storm in 2014 washed out the track bed and made an 80-metre (260 ft) breach in the sea wall north of the station, plans were developed to reinforce and replace the sea wall around the station area. This work, which was expected to cost £80 million, started in 2020[10] and was largely completed in late summer 2022. During this time the sea wall walkway was raised to platform level and both platforms were resurfaced. The platform lighting was also improved.[11][12] An accessible footbridge, built to replace the previous at-grade crossing for passengers who can't use stairs, opened on 15 March 2024.[13]
Signal boxes
The 1920 signal box
The first signal box was provided on the seaward platform beside the north end of the waiting room but this was replaced by a new two-storey signal box on 9 September 1920 on the opposite platform. So as to fit on the narrow platform the brick-built lower storey which contained the interlocking equipment was narrower than usual, with the upper storey was vaulted out from this to give a full size operating floor.[8][page needed]
After the summer of 1970 the signal box was only opened on summer weekends or if there were problems working along the sea wall. It finally closed on 27 September 1986 since when the trains have been controlled from Exeter.[8][page needed] Despite attempts to find a commercial use for the redundant building, it remained empty until 2013 when it was demolished during the period 2–5 July.[14]
1921 accident
On 22 September 1921 a Plymouth to Crewe passenger train collided with an Exeter St Davids to Newton Abbot goods train that was shunting in the station. The passenger train, hauled by Star Class 4055 Princess Sophia, failed to stop at a danger signal. Cranes cleared the line by lifting damaged wagons onto the beach, where they remained for a couple of days.[8][page needed]
The station is adjacent to the beach near the gardens at the centre of the town. The main frontage is in banded rusticated masonry. The remaining walls are rendered except for the east elevation, which faces the sea, which is in rubble stone. The station buildings are Grade II listed.[1] It has two storeys as the railway runs above street level and a café occupies most of the street frontage.[9][page needed] The main entrance is at road level on the side served by trains to Exeter. This opens onto a booking office with an ornate ceiling[8][page needed] from where a flight of stairs lead up to the Exeter platform, but step-free access can be obtained through a gate from the car park beside the station buildings, which is the only access route when the booking office is closed.
Access to the opposite platform is by way of a covered footbridge, the stairways of which are contained within the building. Passengers who cannot use the steps can be escorted across the barrow crossing at the south end of the station by the station staff.
Immediately to the south of the station is the low Colonnade Viaduct, which carries the railway above the small river that runs through the gardens and the main footpath from the town to the beach and the South West Coast Path. To the north of the station is Coastguards Footbridge, with Coastguards Cottage, now a café, on the hill above the line to the west, and Brunel's Boat House between the line and the beach to the east.
Services
A First Great Western service to London Paddington
The revised timetable from 15 December 2019 has two or three Great Western Railway trains per hour calling at Dawlish in each direction. Most trains run between Exmouth and Paignton although some start or finish at Exeter St Davids. On Sundays the service is less frequent and most trains only run between Exeter St Davids and Paignton.[24] The line from Exeter St Davids through Dawlish to Paignton is marketed as the "Riviera Line".
A few longer-distance Great Western Railway trains from Bristol Temple Meads, Cardiff Central or from London Paddington also call at Dawlish as do a few CrossCountry services from the Midlands, North of England and Scotland.[24] Most of these services, including the Torbay Express from Paddington, continue to Paignton but some instead run to Plymouth and even Penzance. At other times passengers travelling east or north catch a local train and change into main line trains at Exeter St Davids, or at Newton Abbot if travelling westwards.
^Padgett, David (June 2018) [1989]. Munsey, Myles (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 3: Western & Wales (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. map 8B. ISBN978-1-9996271-0-2.
^Gregory, R.H. (1982). The South Devon Railway. Salisbury: Oakwood Press. ISBN0-85361-286-2.
^"Burning of Dawlish Railway Station". West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser. England. 21 August 1873. Retrieved 19 February 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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