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 and then on to 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 . 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 (the old platform 2) 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 by
Wales & 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==