St James Park railway station

St James Park railway station is a suburban railway station in Exeter, Devon, England. It is 170 miles 72 chains (275.0 km) down the line from London Waterloo. The station is adjacent to the Exeter City football ground. Great Western Railway manage the station and operate the train services.

Not to be confused with St. James's Park tube station.

St. James Park
Location
Place	Exeter
Local authority	Exeter
Coordinates	50.73059°N 3.52233°W / 50.73059; -3.52233
Grid reference	SX925934
Operations
Station code	SJP
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15	64,586
2015/16	72,712
2016/17	87,804
2017/18	84,214
2018/19	88,760
History
Original company	London and South Western Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
1906	Opened as Lion's Holt Halt
1946	Renamed St James Park Halt
1969	Renamed St James Park
National Rail – UK railway stations
Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at St. James Park 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

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.

Description

There are two platforms. The Exeter-bound Platform 1 is about 240 feet (73 m) in length. Platform 2 (for trains toward Exmouth) is very short (about 120 feet or 37 metres) and can only be served by a one or two 20 metres (66 ft) coach train. Longer trains must use selective door opening or single door opening. Plans were announced in May 2019 to extend Platform 2 to fit two coach trains, with works proposed to begin in Spring 2020.

Services

Avocet Line services between Exmouth and Exeter St Davids call at St James Park. Beyond St Davids they generally continue on the Riviera Line to Paignton.[2] Tarka line services from Barnstaple terminate at St James Park,[3] reversing in the siding at Exmouth Junction before returning. During the summer some Sunday trains are provided through to Okehampton.

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

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Exeter Central		Great Western Railway Paignton - Exmouth		Polsloe Bridge
Exeter Central		Great Western Railway Barnstaple - St James Park		Terminus

References

1. Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1992). Branch Lines to Exmouth. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 1-873793-00-6.
2. "Exmouth - Exeter - Paignton (The Avocet and Riviera lines)" (PDF). Great Western Railway. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
3. "Exeter to Barnstaple" (PDF). Great Western Railway. Retrieved 18 December 2019.