St James Park railway station explained

St James Park
Symbol Location:gb
Symbol:rail
Borough:Exeter
Country:England
Coordinates:50.7306°N -3.5223°W
Grid Name:Grid reference
Manager:Great Western Railway
Platforms:2
Code:SJP
Classification:DfT category F2
Original:London and South Western Railway
Postgroup:Southern Railway
Years:1906
Events:Opened as Lion's Holt Halt
Years1:1946
Events1:Renamed St James Park Halt
Years2:1969
Events2:Renamed St James Park
Footnotes:Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

St James Park railway station is a suburban railway station in Exeter, Devon, England. It is 170chain72chain down the line from . The station is adjacent to the Exeter City football ground. Great Western Railway manage the station and operate the train services.

History

A small station named Lion's Holt Halt was opened in the cutting west of Blackboy Tunnel on 26 January 1906. Mount Pleasant Road Halt was opened at the same time to the east of the tunnel but was closed in 1928.[1]

The name of Lion's Holt was changed to St James Park on 7 October 1946, the name of the Exeter City F.C. football ground, which is next to the station. The club has adopted the station under the community railways scheme and contributes to its upkeep.

Tarka line services from Barnstaple terminated at St James Park from December 2018,[2] reversing in the siding at Exmouth Junction before returning. In the May 2021 timetable they terminate at Exeter Central[3] but will still run through St James Park when they reverse in the siding at Exmouth Junction.

Description

There are two platforms. The Exeter-bound Platform 1 is about 240feet in length. Platform 2 (for trains toward Exmouth) was originally very short (about 120feet) and could only be served by a one 20m (70feet) coach trains. Longer trains had to use selective door opening or single door opening. Works took place in October 2020 to extend platform 1 by 10 metres and platform 2 by 49 metres.[4]

Services

Avocet Line services between and call at St James Park. Beyond St Davids they generally continue on the Riviera Line to .[5]

South Western Railway services between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids pass through the station but do not stop; passengers for this route have to change at Exeter Central.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Mitchell, Vic. Smith, Keith . Branch Lines to Exmouth . Middleton Press . 1992 . Midhurst. 1-873793-00-6.
  2. Web site: Exeter to Barnstaple . Great Western Railway . 2019-12-18.
  3. Web site: Exeter to Barnstaple - Train times . GWR.com . GWR . 13 July 2021.
  4. Web site: Better train access following platform upgrades at St James Park station . Network Rail . 13 July 2021.
  5. Web site: Exmouth - Exeter - Paignton (The Avocet and Riviera lines) . Great Western Railway . 2019-12-18 . 9 December 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191209141745/https://www.gwr.com/~/media/gwr/pdfs/plan-journey/timetables/2019/december/d1-a4-web-tt.pdf?la=en . dead .