Pinhoe railway station

{{Infobox station

| name = Pinhoe

| symbol_location = gb

| symbol = rail

| image = 2009 at Pinhoe station - overview.jpg

| borough = Pinhoe, Exeter

| country = England, United Kingdom

| coordinates = {{coord|50.7377|-3.4698|type:railwaystation_region:GB_scale:10000|display=inline,title}}

| grid_name = Grid reference

| grid_position = {{gbmapscaled|SX962941|25|SX962941}}

| manager = South Western Railway

| platforms = 2

| code = PIN

| classification = DfT category F2

| original = London and South Western Railway

| postgroup = Southern Railway

| years = 1871

| events = Opened

| years1 = 1966

| events1 = Closed for passengers

| years2 = 1967

| events2 = Closed for goods

| years3 = 1983

| events3 = Reopened

| mpassengers =

{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2019/20 |passengers={{increase}} 0.130 million}}

{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2020/21 |passengers={{decrease}} 46,198}}

{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2021/22 |passengers={{increase}} 0.139 million}}

{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2022/23 |passengers={{increase}} 0.166 million}}

{{Rail pass box |pass_year=2023/24 |passengers={{increase}} 0.192 million}}

| footnotes = Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

}}

Pinhoe railway station is a railway station located on the eastern edge of the city of Exeter in Devon, England, that serves the village of Pinhoe. It was opened by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1871, but is now operated by South Western Railway, which provides services on the West of England Main Line. It is {{convert|168|mi|44|chain|km}} down the line from {{stn|London Waterloo}}.

History

The LSWR opened its Exeter Extension from {{stnlnk|Yeovil Junction}} to Exeter Queen Street on 19 July 1860, but no station was provided at Pinhoe at that time. The village's station opened eleven years later on 30 October 1871. The original wooden footbridge was replaced by a concrete structure cast at nearby Exmouth Junction works, the first such footbridge erected by the Southern Railway, which had taken over from the LSWR in 1923.{{cite book| last = Oakley| first = Mike| title = Devon Railway Stations| publisher = The Dovecote Press| year = 2007| location = Wimbourne| isbn =978-1-904349-55-6 }}

Goods facilities were provided from 3 April 1882, and in 1943 a government food cold store was built to the west of the station that was served by its own siding. The passenger station was closed on 7 March 1966 when the Western Region of British Railways withdrew the local stopping services from the line. Goods facilities were withdrawn on 10 June 1967 and the cold store siding (now operated by a private company) closed in 1979.{{cite book|last= Phillips|first= Derek|author2=Pryer, George |title= The Salisbury to Exeter Line|year= 1997|publisher= Oxford Publishing Company|location= Sparkford|isbn= 0-86093-525-6 }}

The station was reopened by British Rail on 16 May 1983. Passengers waiting at the reopened station have glass and metal shelters. Instead of serving a country village, it was now on the eastern edge of the expanding city. The initial trial period for commuter services proved successful, and a regular service now operates all day, seven days a week.{{cite web|title=Table 160: London to Salisbury and Exeter |work=Electronic National Rail Timetable |publisher=Network Rail |date=December 2009 |url=http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/eNRT/Dec09/timetables/Table160.pdf |access-date=2009-12-14 }} Between 2003 and 2008, passenger numbers increased by 530%, and are still increasing with an estimate of 94,354 users in 2015–16, and in subsequent years consistently exceeding 100,000 passengers per year (except for 2020–21).{{cite web| title =Station Usage| work =Rail Statistics| publisher =Office of Rail Regulation| url =http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/station-usage-estimates| access-date =2016-12-16| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20140710030043/http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/station-usage-estimates| archive-date =10 July 2014| url-status =live}}

{{rail line|previous={{stnlnk|Broad Clyst}}|route=London and South Western Railway
Salisbury to Exeter|next={{stnlnk|Whipton Bridge Halt}} |col={{LSWR colour}} }}

= Station buildings =

A two-storey brick building between the road and the eastbound platform is the former stationmaster's house. The main station building used to be next to the house but was demolished after the station closed in the 1960s.

Location

The station is just south of the village centre to the west of Station Road, and access to the platforms is from this road. A footpath also links the eastbound platform with Main Road.{{cite book|title= A–Z Exeter|edition= 4th|year= 2007|publisher= Geographers’A–Z Map Company|location= Sevenoaks|isbn=978-1-84348-504-9 |page= 12 }}

Services

File:Pair of Class 159s at Pinhoe.jpg Class 159 units arrive into Pinhoe working a London Waterloo service]]

Off-peak, all services at Pinhoe are operated by South Western Railway using {{brc|158}} and {{brc|159|n}} DMUs.

The average off-peak service in trains per hour is:{{NRtimes|May 2022|160}}

1 tph to {{stn|London Waterloo}} via {{stnlnk|Salisbury}}
1 tph to {{stnlnk|Exeter St Davids}}

The station is also served by a single weekday peak hour service from {{stnlnk|Barnstaple}} to {{stnlnk|Axminster}}, which is operated by Great Western Railway.{{cite web|url=https://www.gwr.com/~/media/gwr/pdfs/plan-journey/timetables/2022/train-times-15-may-to-12-dec-2022/d2-train-times-15-may-to-10-dec-22-updated-110522.pdf?la=en|title=Train times: Exeter to Barnstaple and Okehampton|work=Great Western Railway|access-date=16 May 2022}}

{{rail line|rows1=2|rows2=2|previous={{stnlnk|Cranbrook|Devon}}|route=South Western Railway
{{smalldiv|West of England Main Line}}|next={{stnlnk|Exeter Central}}|col={{SWR colour}} }}

{{s-rail-national|hide1=yes|hide2=yes|previous=Cranbrook|county1=Devon|next=Exeter Central|toc=Great Western Railway|route={{smalldiv|West of England Main Line}}|notemid={{smalldiv|Limited Service}}}}

Signalling

The station was built next to the level crossing of Pinn Lane. This was operated by the station staff until 1875, when a small signal box was brought into use; it was situated on the north side of the line to the east of the road. The initial 11 levers were extended to 17 in 1943, when the cold store was built. On 11 June 1967 one of the two tracks between Pinhoe and {{stnlnk|Honiton}} was taken out of use, and trains towards London would often wait in the closed station for a westbound train to clear the {{convert|14|mi|km|adj=on}} single track section. The level crossing gates were replaced with lifting barriers on 17 March 1968. The signal box was closed on 13 February 1988, the level crossing and signals now being controlled from Exmouth Junction. The old signal box was dismantled and re-erected in the railway museum at {{stnlnk|Bere Ferrers}} on the Tamar Valley Line.