No station was provided between and until the summer of 1905, when
Warren Halt was opened by the
Great Western Railway. This was not on the site of the present station, but nearer to the sea wall by the footbridge which had been built across the line in 1873. An
iron 'pagoda' waiting shelter was provided on each -long platform. In 1906, the platforms were extended to . From 1 July 1907, the station was staffed and renamed
Warren Platform. It was provided with a booking office and larger waiting room by adding larger iron buildings alongside the original 'pagodas'. Work soon started on a new station. A goods yard was opened on 10 June 1912 on the landward side of the line and the new station, now nearer to Starcross, was opened to passengers on 23 September 1912. The platforms were now long. It had been intended to move the iron buildings from the old platform, but larger wooden buildings were provided instead. Between 1 January 1917 and 5 May 1919, the station was temporarily closed due to
World War I. The building on the
down platform (nearest the beach) was destroyed by fire on 9 January 1924. In 1935, a
camping coach was stationed in the goods yard which could be rented by holiday makers, but the facility was withdrawn in 1939. They were reintroduced by the
Western Region in 1952 and, by 1963, there were nine coaches stationed here. After 1964, the public service was withdrawn but the coaches at Dawlish Warren continued to be managed by the British Rail Staff Association for its members. The old coaches were replaced for the 1982 season by the current vehicles, since when the connection to the goods yard has been removed. The Great Western Railway was
nationalised into
British Railways on 1 January 1948. Goods traffic was withdrawn on 5 August 1967 and the station became unstaffed on 3 May 1971. From 1974 to 1984, the buildings on the up side housed the Dawlish Warren Railway Museum with its model railway. This building burnt down in 2003, but a new residential building was built on the site in 2007, which is outwardly the same design as the former Dawlish Warren signal box. This had been located at the north end of the down platform, until it became redundant on 14 November 1986 by the West of England resignalling programme; it was demolished in May 1990. == Platform layout ==