Paignton station footbridge on fire 21/07/26

[Essexman]

Photos on local Facebook show the footbridge at Paignton station well alight. GWR say station on fire but it looks like just the bridge. GWR say signalling damaged and no trains running until at least 14.00.

 

[dk1]

One post on Devon Live mentioned it was the back of an electrical box.

 

[Essexman]

This photo, which was taken from a local Facebook post this morning, shows the footbridge at Paignton station well alight.

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

Arson attack by youths according to internal sources...

 

[RPI]

Arson attack by youths according to internal sources...

That's what I'd heard too

 

[Ashley Hill]

Another covered footbridge gone. It has a wooden floor too. That area is not looking good at the moment as the road next to the station is closed and obstructed due to the demolition of an unsafe building.

 

[TastyMaltesers]

Hopefully nobody hurt??

 

[REVUpminster]

The station is unmanned for about 12/13 hours so always likely to happen. Looks like the first train got as far as the approach; maybe the driver raised the alarm.

 

[RPI]

Another covered footbridge gone. It has a wooden floor too. That area is not looking good at the moment as the road next to the station is closed and obstructed due to the demolition of an unsafe building.

Sadly that's the general sort of ambience in Paignton these days.

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The station is unmanned for about 12/13 hours so always likely to happen. Looks like the first train got as far as the approach; maybe the driver raised the alarm.

The signaller is there for a lot of the time though, the panel is in the rear of the ticket office.

 

[REVUpminster]

Sadly that's the general sort of ambience in Paignton these days.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Jul 2026 ==


The signaller is there for a lot of the time though, the panel is in the rear of the ticket office.

I never knew there was a signaller there. What do they do? Guards usually press a plunger, on the platform near the footbridge, that tells the signalman at Exeter train is ready to depart.
I would add it's been extremely hot for weeks especially at night. No rain either.

 

[londonmidland]

I got sent this picture. Doesn’t look good at all.

Extensive damage to the footbridge at Paignton station, caused by a fire.

 

[TastyMaltesers]

I never knew there was a signaller there. What do they do? Guards usually press a plunger, on the platform near the footbridge, that tells the signalman at Exeter train is ready to depart.

Pure guesswork on my part, but perhaps they control access to the Goodrington sidings?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Jul 2026 ==

Looks like the first train got as far as the approach; maybe the driver raised the alarm.

BBC news says "Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service was called to the station at about 05:45 BST", so given the timings of the first train I would guess that the signaller raised the alarm then went to stop the train straight away.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I never knew there was a signaller there. What do they do? Guards usually press a plunger, on the platform near the footbridge, that tells the signalman at Exeter train is ready to depart.

Paignton box fringes with Exeter panel. Its control area begins roughly by the former gas works between Torquay and Paignton. The Train Ready to Start plunger tells the Paignton signaller that the train is ready to start.
The bridge is usually locked overnight.
Hers another picture from the Torbay Weekly showing the fire and the closed road which has probably not helped access by the fire services.

 

[HamworthyGoods]

I never knew there was a signaller there. What do they do? Guards usually press a plunger, on the platform near the footbridge, that tells the signalman at Exeter train is ready to depart

They signal trains!

The train ready to start plunger doesn’t have anything to do with the signallers at Exeter.

 

[YorkshireBear]

I note all trains between Newton abbot and Paignton cancelled, is there no suitable turning points in the Torquay area for the local trains to turn at?

 

[dciuk]

National Rail Disruption video: https://vimeo.com/1211602446?fl=pl&fe=cm

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This happened just hours after a lineside fire at Newton Abbot disrupted both mainline and Paignton services yesterday evening

 

[TastyMaltesers]

I note all trains between Newton abbot and Paignton cancelled, is there no suitable turning points in the Torquay area for the local trains to turn at?

No - there are no crossovers between the Newton Abbot junction and the approach to Paignton, and neither line is bi-directionally signalled.

 

[HamworthyGoods]

I note all trains between Newton abbot and Paignton cancelled, is there no suitable turning points in the Torquay area for the local trains to turn at?

No points at all at Torquay, the branch was quite severely rationalised by BR in the 1980s.

 

[RPI]

I never knew there was a signaller there. What do they do? Guards usually press a plunger, on the platform near the footbridge, that tells the signalman at Exeter train is ready to depart.
I would add it's been extremely hot for weeks especially at night. No rain either.

They signal trains......

 

[zwk500]

I never knew there was a signaller there. What do they do? Guards usually press a plunger, on the platform near the footbridge, that tells the signalman at Exeter train is ready to depart.
I would add it's been extremely hot for weeks especially at night. No rain either.

Sectional Appendix shows Paignton station controlled by Paignton Signaller:

And OTT clearly shows the boundary between Paignton "PN" and the Exeter-controlled signals "UT" and "DT":

"B", "PS" and "QP" signals are on the heritage railway.

 

[zwk500]

Pure guesswork on my part, but perhaps they control access to the Goodrington sidings?

They do do this, but also control arrivals from and departures towards Torquay as well as the Level Crossing at the north end of the station.

Pretty sure they also have to give permission or a release for the movements on/off the heritage railway, although not sure of the exact details.

 

[ExRes]

I don't see any reference to the steam service on the news or on the Dartmouth Steam Railway website as yet

 

[Ashley Hill]

Pretty sure they also have to give permission or a release for the movements on/off the heritage railway, although not sure of the exact details.

There is no electrical release of the ground frame. One traditional GF key and a padlock on the point lock lever.

I don't see any reference to the steam service on the news or on the Dartmouth Steam Railway website as yet

Access to their site may be inhibited by the emergency services. From the pictures on here so far and BBC news it’s hard to tell if the downside buildings were affected.

 

[CR165022]

Is 2T01 still outside the station? Or has it reversed back to Torquay?

 

[TastyMaltesers]

Is 2T01 still outside the station? Or has it reversed back to Torquay?

It is reversing back in the direction of Exeter - just passed Newton Abbot

 

[Ashley Hill]

Is 2T01 still outside the station? Or has it reversed back to Torquay?

Currently returning to Exeter as 5T01.

 

[TastyMaltesers]

There's some interesting ECS moves to get terminating units out of the way at Newton Abbot.

It appears that the XC set off 1V41 has moved to the ground signal at the start of the Torquay line to away its next duty, and the GWR set off 1C30 is running empty to Totnes and will reverse there using the crossover to form 1A81 from Newton Abbot.

 

[RPI]

Is 2T01 still outside the station? Or has it reversed back to Torquay?

There were no passengers on it so that does make it a bit easier

 

[Russel]

Bit of a silver lining with this one that most services use platform 2 so the loss of the footbridge won't cause the issues it would cause at other locations, that and the easy access from the street to both platforms..

 

[TastyMaltesers]

Perhaps surprisingly, the Dartmouth Steam Railway seems to be unaffected.

From the DSR website;

Tuesday 21st July service update
We would like to confirm that ALL our scheduled services are running normally today.