Trains - information and advice

Train on Avocet line

• General information
• Train timetables
• Train tickets
• Train and bus
• Train and bike
• How are they running?

General information

Exeter has two main line stations, Exeter St Davids and Exeter Central. There are direct trains from Exeter to many destinations throughout the UK.

Travelling to and from Exeter by rail is easy. Frequent direct services operate from Exeter to London's Paddington and Waterloo stations, as well as to Birmingham and beyond. A typical journey from London to Exeter takes as little as 2 hrs 15 minutes, and from the Midlands as little as 2 hrs 30 minutes.

With eight stations within the city boundaries, and lines reaching out in five directions, the local area is well served by rail too.

See the Devon rail map showing where the lines run. Devon County Council's Journey Devon website is a valuable source of information about public transport across the whole county.

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Train timetables

Online timetable information can be obtained from National Rail Enquiries.

Timetables for individual services are published by the individual operators serving Exeter, namely First Great Western, Cross Country, and South West Trains. These can be downloaded by following the links from National Rail printable timetables.

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Train tickets

Tickets can be purchased from any train operator and various other agents. The operators whose trains serve Exeter are:-

• First Great Western Trains
• Cross Country Trains
• South West Trains

Details of season tickets available can be found on the above websites.

In addition, various Railcards are available giving discounted rail travel. 

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Train and bus

By including PlusBus with your rail ticket, you can use the train and bus to travel door to door.

Train and bike

The individual train companies provide information about taking your bike on a train:

• First Great Western cycle policy
• South West Trains cycle policy
• Cross Country Trains cycle policy

In addition, Exeter St Davids is one of the first stations in the country to operate a Brompton Dock bike hire facility:-

• Brompton Dock at Exeter St Davids 

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How are they running?

See below for real-time arrival & departure information for Exeter St Davids and Exeter Central stations.

• Exeter St Davids Train Times
• Exeter Central Station Train Times

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