Feniton railway station explained

Feniton railway station should not be confused with Fenton railway station.

Feniton
Symbol Location:gb
Symbol:rail
Borough:Feniton, East Devon
Country:England
Coordinates:50.786°N -3.285°W
Grid Name:Grid reference
Manager:South Western Railway
Platforms:1
Code:FNT
Classification:DfT category E
Original:London and South Western Railway
Pregroup:London and South Western Railway
Postgroup:Southern Railway
Events:Opened as Feniton
Years1:1 July 1861
Events1:Renamed Ottery & Sidmouth Road
Years2:February 1868
Events2:Renamed Feniton for Ottery St Mary
Years3:April 1868
Events3:Renamed Ottery Road
Years4:6 July 1874
Events4:Renamed Sidmouth Junction
Years5:6 March 1967
Events5:Closed
Years6:5 May 1971
Events6:Reopened as Feniton
Footnotes:Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Feniton railway station serves the village of Feniton in Devon, England. It was opened by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1860 but is now operated by South Western Railway which provides services on the West of England Main Line. It is 159chain24chain down the line from .

History

The station was designed by William Tite and was opened by the LSWR on 19 July 1860, along with its Exeter Extension from to Exeter Queen Street. It was named Feniton after the nearest village, but less than a year later it was renamed (on 1 July 1861) as Ottery and Sidmouth Road. In February 1868 this was changed again to Feniton for Ottery St Mary. On 6 July 1874 a branch line to was opened and the station changed its name once more to become Sidmouth Junction, a name that it managed to retain for more than 90 years.[1]

On 1 May 1897 a new line to was opened and this was extended on 1 June 1903 to . Although the junction for this line was at, Sidmouth Junction was the de facto junction as it was situated on the London main line. A third platform was provided to accommodate branch line trains; this was a terminal bay at the Yeovil end of the westbound platform. It was on this platform that the main two-storey building was situated.[1]

A goods yard and goods shed was provided adjacent to the bay platform. This was closed on 6 September 1965. The following year saw the withdrawal of local stopping trains on the main line, but Sidmouth Junction remained open until 6 March 1967 when passenger services were withdrawn from the branch lines, after which it closed.[1]

The station was however reopened by British Rail on 5 May 1971 as a result of local campaigning by the residents of the expanding village, assuming the original Feniton name. A ticket office was erected in 1974 as the original building had been demolished while the station was closed. The platform was rebuilt and lengthened in 1992[1] but is still shorter than many of the trains that call.

Platform layout

The platform is on the south side of the line, east of the level crossing of Ottery Road. The disused eastbound platform still stands but the goods yard site is now occupied by houses.

Services

Off-peak, all services at Feniton are operated by South Western Railway using and DMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is one train every two hours between and via, increasing to hourly at peak times.

The station is also served by a single weekday peak hour service from to which is operated by Great Western Railway.[2]

Due to the short platform at this station, passengers wishing to alight need to be in the front 3 coaches of the train as the platform can only take 3-car trains.[3]

Signalling

The station was built next to the level crossing of the Ottery Road which was operated by the station staff. A signal box was provided in 1875 at the east end of the station on the north side of the line, opposite goods yard. Because it was too far from the level crossing a small signal box was provided at that end of the station to control the level crossing. The main signal box was closed on 21 May 1967 but the level crossing box was retained. The line through the station reduced to just a single track on 11 June 1967. In 1974 the level crossing gates were replaced by lifting barriers; the level crossing box was abolished at the same time and the barriers were operated from a panel within the station building until March 2012 when signalling and level crossing control was transferred to Basingstoke Area Signalling Centre.[4]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Oakley, Mike. Devon Railway Stations. The Dovecote Press. 2007. Wimbourne. 978-1-904349-55-6 .
  2. Web site: Train times: Exeter to Barnstaple and Okehampton. Great Western Railway. 16 May 2022.
  3. Book: Jacobs, Gerald. Railway Track Diagrams Book 3: Western. Trackmaps. 2005. Bradford-on-Avon. 0-9549866-1-X.
  4. Book: Phillips, Derek . Pryer, George . The Salisbury to Exeter Line . 1997 . Oxford Publishing Company . Sparkford . 0-86093-525-6 .