Marsh Barton Station Will Open On Tuesday, 4th July 2023
This is said on this page on the Great Western Railway web site.
The station is due to open on Tuesday 4 July 2023.
This Google map shows Marsh Barton station under construction.
Note.
- The two five-car platforms.
- The pedestrian and cycle bridge over the tracks at the Northern end of the station.
- I would assume, that the bridges have been made high enough over the tracks for electrification.
The page on the Great Western Railway web site also has a couple of videos showing construction of the station.
Services
The page on the Great Western Railway web site also says this about services at the station.
Marsh Barton will be served by our local services between Paignton and Exmouth which run through the heart of Exeter.
We aim to provide hourly off-peak services to the station with additional trains stopping at peak times.
Currently, there is an hourly train that stops at all stations between Exmouth and Paignton, which will probably be the main service.
In addition five long distance services will pass through Marsh Barton station.
- Two trains per day (tpd) – London Paddington and Paignton via Reading, Newbury, Hungerford, Pewsey, Westbury, Castle Cary, Taunton, Tiverton Parkway, Exeter St. Davids, Dawlish, Teignmouth, Newton Abbot, Torre and Torquay
- Three tpd – London Paddington and Plymouth via Reading, Newbury, Hungerford, Pewsey, Westbury, Castle Cary, Taunton, Tiverton Parkway, Exeter St. Davids, Dawlish, Teignmouth, Newton Abbot, Totnes and Ivybridge
- One train per two hours (tp2h) – London Paddington and Plymouth via Reading, Taunton, Tiverton Parkway, Exeter St Davids, Newton Abbot and Totnes.
- One tp2h – London Paddington and Penzance via Reading, Taunton, Tiverton Parkway, Exeter St Davids, Newton Abbot, Totnes, Plymouth, Liskeard, Bodmin Parkway, Par, St Austell, Truro, Redruth, Camborne and St Erth.
- One tp2h – Cardiff Central and Penzance via Newport, Severn Tunnel Junction, Patchway, Filton Abbey Wood, Bristol Temple Meads, Nailsea & Backwell, Yatton, Worle, Weston-super-Mare, Highbridge & Burnham, Bridgwater, Taunton, Tiverton Parkway, Exeter St Davids, Dawlish, Teignmouth, Newton Abbot, Totnes, Ivybridge, Plymouth, Devonport, Dockyard, Keyham, St Budeaux Ferry Road, Saltash, St Germans, Menheniot, Liskeard, Bodmin Parkway, Lostwithiel, Par, St Austell, Truro, Redruth, Camborne, Hayle and St. Erth
Note.
- The fifth train is definitely what you would call a stopping train.
- All the through expresses stop at Taunton, Tiverton Parkway, Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot.
- The stopping service, the Paignton trains and some Plymouth trains stop at Dawlish and Teignmouth.
- All trains stopping at Plymouth, stop at Totnes.
- The Paignton and Plymouth services are run using Class 802 trains.
- The fifth stopping service is run by a GWR Castle.
- Marsh Barton station has been built for five-car Class 802 trains.
As the GWR Castles are being retired and will probably be replaced by more Class 802 trains, we are very likely to see more Hitachi trains working between Taunton and Penzance via Tiverton Parkway, Exeter St Davids, Dawlish, Teignmouth, Newton Abbot, Totnes, Plymouth, Liskeard, Bodmin Parkway, St Austell, Truro, Redruth, Camborne and Hayle.
The Anonymous Widower 
I used the train from Bath on Wednesday morning back to London and it was only a 5 car and as result was full and standing even in First Class leaving Bath. Asked the train mgr why so short a train and he said its because GWR have been forced to get rid of Castle trains (despite having spent millions refurbishing them) and reduce length of the London trains to free up 800’s to work in W.Country now. I also noted the local trains mainly 2 or 3 cars were also pretty well loaded. GWR haven’t got enough stock its plain to see yet on a journey i did yesterday in Anglia they are running trains with way too much fresh air albeit i get electric stock aint going to work down W.Country. BR would have moved stock around. The 769’s should have been retained and probably sent up to Northern as they have significant under the wires running and that would have freed up 15x’s units not the nicest but could have been used to strengthen trains
Comment by Nicholas Lewis | June 23, 2023 |
As you can see from the post, if the Castles were replaced by five-car 802 trains, they would only be running 802s on the main line West of Exeter, except for a few diesels on the branches.
I think something has happened, that has not been let out yet,but that is certainly not bad news.
It might even explain the getting rid of the Castles.
Comment by AnonW | June 23, 2023 |
A couple of minor corrections. Firstly your list above only shows GWR trains that pass through Marsh Barton – there are also roughly hourly Cross Country services. Secondly the trains between Exmouth and Paignton that will stop at Marsh Barton will either be Networkers or Sprinters; GWR may want to only run 802 trains on the main line but that will be very unlikely on the stretch between St Davids and Newton Abbot which is shared with local services. Finally the trains between Exmouth and Paignton have a very complicated stopping pattern with very few services calling at every stop; roughly half the trains skip some stops between Exmouth and Exeter and the other half skip those between Exeter and Dawlish. Bizarrely it appears that trains going south from St Davids will stop at all stops including Marsh Barton but those going north into St Davids will skip stops after Dawlish then stop at all stations on the other side of the Exe. That means it will be possible to get a train from Marsh Barton to Starcross but not a train back from Starcross to Marsh Barton. Hopefully this will all be simplified in a future timetable change and Marsh Barton has enough passengers to justify a half-hourly service.
Comment by Christopher Whiffin | June 24, 2023 |
I suspect to find out how a half-hourly service will work out, they’ll have to run it.
Comment by AnonW | June 24, 2023 |