Newcourt railway station (England)

Newcourt railway station is the newest railway station on the Avocet Line, serving the Newcourt area of Exeter, United Kingdom. The station is sited between Digby and Sowton and Topsham and was opened to passenger traffic on 4 June 2015. The station is managed and operated by Great Western Railway.

Newcourt (Exeter)
Location
Place	Newcourt, Exeter
Local authority	Exeter
Coordinates	50.7023°N 3.472°W / 50.7023; -3.472
Grid reference	SX961902
Operations
Station code	NCO
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Number of platforms	1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2015/16	59,410
2016/17	99,394
2017/18	0.114 million
2018/19	0.129 million
History
Key dates	Opened 4 June 2015 (4 June 2015)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Newcourt (Exeter) from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

Exeter railway stations
Avocet Line to Exmouth Topsham Newcourt Digby and Sowton Polsloe Bridge West of England line to London Waterloo via Salisbury Pinhoe St James Park Exeter Central Bristol–Exeter line to Bristol and London Paddington Exeter St Davids Tarka Line to Barnstaple Exeter St Thomas Riviera Line to Paignton & Exeter–Plymouth line to Plymouth and Penzance

History

Following meetings in September and November 2010, a masterplan for the redevelopment of the Newcourt area of Exeter prepared by Atkins was approved by Exeter City Council as a Supplementary Planning Document.[1] The masterplan set out the basis upon which an area of land to the east of Exeter city centre bounded by Topsham Road to the south west, the A379 to the north and Rydon Lane to the west could be sustainably developed to provide 16 hectares (40 acres) of employment land and 3,500 dwellings.[2] As the masterplan did not assess the transport implications of the proposed development, a supplementary report was published in January 2011 by Devon County Council which identified rail transport as having the greatest potential to reduce levels of private car use.[3] The report confirmed that Jacobs Engineering had carried out a feasibility study and concluded that there were no technical reasons why a single-platform halt could not be provided at Newcourt, in a similar manner to that at Digby and Sowton.[3] According to the report, modelling work had shown that a station at Newcourt would generate at least 500 individual daily journeys, which would mitigate the impacts of the Newcourt development at the already congested road junctions of Countess Wear and junction 30 of the M5.[3] Provision of the station was costed at £4 million on the basis that construction would begin in 2015 for opening in 2016.[4]

In May 2013, it was announced that Newcourt would be one of four stations to benefit from the Coalition government's New Station Fund together with Ilkeston, Lea Bridge and Pye Corner.[5] The fund will provide £1.5 million towards the station and the remainder will come from developers' contributions.[6] Construction began in September 2014.[7] The station opened on 4 June 2015.[8]

The station could form part of the proposed "Devon Metro" rail network to increase connectivity to and from commuter towns such as Exmouth and Cullompton, with new stations at Marsh Barton, Monkerton and Cranbrook.[9]

Description

The single platform is 124 metres (407 ft) long and a passenger shelter, ticket machine and customer information system are provided.[10] Pedestrian access is provided from Liberty Way where there is a small drop-off area and disabled parking.[10] Provision has been made for a future underpass crossing.[11] The station site falls partially within the former Royal Naval Stores Depot.[12]

Services

When the station opened in June 2015 it was served by all trains on the Avocet Line to Exmouth which gave a half-hourly service in each direction for most of the day. All trains ran from or to Exeter Central, Exeter St Davids and Paignton.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Digby and Sowton		Great Western Railway Avocet Line		Topsham

References

1. Exeter City Council (November 2010). "Newcourt Masterplan". Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
2. Exeter City Council (November 2010). "Newcourt Masterplan: Preferred Option". Retrieved 14 June 2013.
3. Devon County Council (January 2011). "Newcourt Masterplan: Transportation Access Strategy Addendum Report" (PDF). para. 2.4. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
4. Devon County Council (January 2011). "Devon Metro Report" (PDF). para. 7.6. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
5. "New station for Exeter's Newcourt development". BBC News Online. 15 May 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
6. "New rail station planned for Exmouth line". Exmouth People. 21 May 2013. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
7. "Transport minister visits Exeter to mark start of construction on £1.5 million Newcourt railway station scheme". 5 September 2014.
8. "Newcourt: First train will stop at brand new Exeter railway station tomorrow". Exeter Express and Echo. Local World. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
9. "Devon Metro- fulfilling the potential of rail" (PDF). Devon County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
10. Devon County Council (22 December 2012). "New train stations will bring economic benefit and ease traffic congestion in the city". Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
11. Exeter City Council (9 May 2013). "New Planning Applications". Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
12. "New stations planned to boost Metro links". Western Morning News. 13 October 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2013.

External links

Media related to Newcourt railway station, Exeter at Wikimedia Commons