Great Western Railway and CrossCountry Trains at Dawlish on August 10th 2024

5th visit to Dawlish on the Riviera Line and South Devon Main Line with my previous visit being in August 2020

Featuring services from Great Western Railway and CrossCountry Trains

Dawlish opened on May 30th 1846 with one platform being located on the landward side although it wasn't until 12 years later when a 2nd platform was added.

The former engine house that powered the trains by atmospheric power from September 13th 1847 to September 9th 1848 although long gone but the bricked up windows can still be seen from the Car Park.

On August 14th 1873 the original station and train shed burnt down and was replaced by a new build on April 12th 1875 built by the South Devon Railway which was merged into the GWR a year later on February 1st 1876.

The former Great Western Railway was nationalised by British Railways on January 1st 1948

Goods traffic was withdrawn on May 17th 1965 although the platforms been extended several times over the years although the Exeter platform was shortened in 1970.

The signal box dates from 1920 however operations was scaled back overtime firstly in 1970 to weekends only before closing completely in 1986 when the line was transferred control to Exeter Signal Box.

For many years The station location was highly vulnerable to flooding unfortunately on the night on February 4th 2014 a 40 metre section of the Dawlish sea wall was breached by rough seas and high winds which left the rails dangling in mid air and the down platform suffered major damage as well.

It wasn't until 2 months later when services were restored and eventually something had to be done which resulted in the new Dawlish sea wall which is now built from the Kennway Tunnel alongside the down platform as far as the site of the former Coastguards Boathouse.

It was built in stages from Late 2019 and despite the Coronavirus Pandemic in March 2020 it was finally completed in May 2023 with the work carried out by BAM Nutall.

The station itself has undergone changes too because of the work on the sea wall with the former wooden down platform being completely replaced with a solid concrete structure as well as enabled a new footbridge to enable step free access to both platforms which in turn replaced the former step free access ramp at the end of the platforms which has now been sealed off.

However the other footbridge is still retained for use.

The station entrance was slightly modified to enable easy access to the up platform however at the time of filming the station is due to undergo a repaint according to Teignbridge Council.

Today local services from Exmouth - Paignton calling here are provided by Class 150 Sprinters, Class 165 and 166 Turbos although the calling patterns differ with one service being an all stopper whilst another run non stop between Exeter St Davids and Dawlish Warren.

Intercity services mainly Cardiff Central to Penzance as well as few trains a day direct to London Paddington to and from Paignton along with a few to and from Plymouth call here which at present provided by Class 800 and 802 IETs with the other workings being London Paddington to Penzance and summer Saturday workings to and from Newquay which both mainly run non stop between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot.

At present only 4 Castle HSTs remain which at the time of filming were only working Plymouth to Penzance workings with a occasional Exeter St Davids workings however they are likely to be withdrawn soon.

CrossCountry Trains nowadays their intercity services provided by Class 220 and 221 Voyagers which came after the withdrawal of the Long Distance HSTs in September 2023.

A lot may have changed in Dawlish with the new sea wall however some things have never changed including the summer holiday atmosphere.

Music used:
JJD - Adventure
Music provided by NCS

Video link:
NoCopyrightSounds
   • JJD - Adventure | Glitch Hop | NCS - ...  

Filmed on Saturday August 10th 2024 on iPhone 15 Pro and edited on iMovie

#greatwesternrailway #gwr #crosscountry #crosscountrytrains #class150 #class165 #class166 #class220 #class221 #class800 #class802 #dawlish #seawall #devon #hitachi #alstom