Teignmouth station was opened by the South Devon Railway Company on 30 May 1846 as the terminus of its first section from Exeter. The line was extended to Newton Abbot on 31 December 1846. Nowadays, you can catch a train to London one way and Penzance the other and many other UK destinations too. The single platform was augmented by a second one late in 1848. At this time it was a 7 ft (2,134 mm) broad gauge railway.
Trains were worked from Exeter by Brunel’s atmospheric power from 13 September 1847 and these were extended to Newton Abbot from 17 December 1847 until all the atmospheric trains were suspended on 9 September 1848. The atmospheric engine house was situated adjacent to the platform on the side furthest from the town, the area then being used as permanent way workshops until about 1876 - at the same time, the South Devon Railway was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway.
When first built the station was situated between two tunnels but the West Tunnel was opened out by June 1881 and the Eastcliffe Tunnel leading to the Sea Wall was removed by 1884, when the distinctive lattice girder bridge at the end of the Sea Wall was installed.
The Great Western Railway was nationalised into British Railways on 1 January 1948. General goods traffic at Teignmouth ceased on 14 June 1965 but coal traffic continued to be handled until 4 December 1967. Since then goods traffic has diminished but sometimes a freight train does come through along with the wonderful steam specials in the summertime. A short walk from the rubble stone built station will bring you down to a very pleasant beach, popular with locals and tourists alike during the warmer months.