The 07:52 reaches Paddington at 09:54, the quickest of the day. Morning departures in full, what an annual season costs, and the cheaper Waterloo route.
Exeter is not a commuter town, and the fares say so plainly. There are two ways to reach London by train from the city, they take very different amounts of time, and they cost very different amounts of money. This page sets out what the journey actually takes, what each route costs, and which station you want.
How long the journey takes
The fastest booked journey from Exeter St Davids to London Paddington is 2 hours 2 minutes: the 07:52, arriving at 09:54, on a Monday timetable checked against National Rail data. Nothing else in the day beats it.
A realistic picture of the morning, taken from the same source for a Monday:
| Departs | Arrives | Journey |
|---|---|---|
| 05:52 | 08:35 | 2h 43m |
| 06:39 | 09:21 | 2h 42m |
| 06:52 | 08:59 | 2h 07m |
| 07:44 | 10:29 | 2h 45m |
| 07:52 | 09:54 | 2h 02m |
| 09:16 | 11:28 | 2h 12m |
The pattern to notice is that consecutive departures are not comparable. The 06:52 does the trip in 2 hours 7 minutes; the 07:44, leaving less than an hour later, takes 2 hours 45 minutes because it stops at everything down the line. Off-peak, the standard fast timing settles at 2 hours 14 minutes, and it is remarkably consistent: the 10:15, 11:15, 12:15, 14:15 and 15:15 all do exactly that. Check the individual train rather than the hour.
All of these are Great Western Railway services on the route through Taunton and Reading. GWR also manages Exeter St Davids.
The other route, and why it is slower but cheaper
There is a second line to London, run by South Western Railway through Honiton and Salisbury into London Waterloo. It is a genuinely different proposition: the 08:00 from Exeter Central reaches Waterloo at 11:49, a direct journey of 3 hours 49 minutes, nearly twice the fast Paddington timing.
What it buys you is a much cheaper ticket. Fares restricted to the Honiton route undercut the any-route fares on every ticket type:
| Ticket | Any permitted route | Via Honiton only |
|---|---|---|
| Super Off-Peak Single | £65.70 | £60.60 |
| Super Off-Peak Return | £115.00 | £90.50 |
| Off-Peak Return | £153.60 | £105.50 |
| Anytime Day Single | £149.50 | £96.50 |
| Anytime Open Return | £299.00 | £193.00 |
The Anytime line is the one worth staring at. A peak-time open return to London costs £299.00 on the fast route and £193.00 if you accept the Honiton line, a difference of £106 for a journey that takes about an hour and three quarters longer each way. The gap on a single is wider still: £149.50 against £96.50. Advance singles, if your times are fixed, were selling from £53.50 on South Western Railway and from £60.50 on GWR on the days checked.
The overnight Exeter to London train: the 01:07 sleeper
There is a third way into London that the fare comparison sites bury, because it leaves in the middle of the night. GWR’s Night Riviera sleeper runs Penzance to London Paddington and picks up at Exeter St Davids in the small hours, so you can board in Exeter and wake up in London.
From GWR’s own published sleeper timetable:
- It leaves Exeter St Davids at 01:07 Monday to Friday and 01:06 on a Sunday, reaching London Paddington just after 05:00.
- There is no Saturday service in either direction, which is the trap: the sleeper runs Monday to Friday nights and Sunday nights only.
- If you book a cabin you do not have to get off at five in the morning. Cabin guests can stay on board and sleep until 06:45, which is the whole point of it for a morning meeting in London.
- A cabin also buys First Class lounge access at Paddington, which has shower rooms, and the cabins have UK plug sockets and USB points, a sink, a wardrobe and storage under the bottom bunk, which folds out into a sofa.
For the journey back, the Sleeper leaves Paddington at 23:45 Monday to Friday and 23:50 on Sunday, with lounge boarding from 21:00 on Platform 1. GWR flags one live caveat itself: improvement works in the Paddington area mean the evening Sleeper is not always ready to board at the advertised time, and cabin passengers are asked to wait in the lounge until called.
Weekends are slower, and GWR says so
One thing worth setting against the times above. GWR’s own route page puts the Paddington to Exeter St Davids journey at around 2 hours 10 minutes, with the fastest service at 2 hours and up to 72 trains a day, usually about every half an hour, but adds that journeys “can be longer on public holidays, and at weekends”. The fastest direct trains, in GWR’s own list of stops, call only at Reading, Newbury and Taunton. So the 2h 02m best case in the table above is a weekday number: if you are travelling on a Sunday or a bank holiday, plan on longer and check the day you actually travel.
What a season ticket costs
If you are moving to Exeter and planning to commute, this is the number that decides it.
An annual season valid on any permitted route, which is the one that lets you use the fast Paddington trains, costs £20,000. That works out at £500 a week or £1,920 a month. Restrict yourself to the Honiton line and the same annual season is £12,844, or £321.10 a week and £1,233.10 a month. Adding a zones 1 to 6 Travelcard takes those to £22,060 and £14,128 respectively.
Set against the walk-up fares, a £20,000 season pays for itself at about 67 Anytime returns a year, which is roughly a day and a half a week in a London office for a full year. Below that, walk-up and advance tickets win. Very few people in Exeter buy the annual season, and the arithmetic explains why: it costs more than a year of the average Exeter rent, which was £1,317 a month in June 2026.
Which station: St Davids or Central
Exeter has two city-centre stations and one of them is not for London.
Exeter St Davids (EX4 4NT), at the bottom of the hill on St Davids Hill, is the main line station. Every fast London train uses it, and it is also where the Waterloo trains, the Plymouth and Cornwall services, the Barnstaple branch and the Exmouth line all meet.
Exeter Central (EX4 3SB) sits in the middle of town off Queen Street, which makes it far more convenient on foot. It is on the Waterloo line, so it is genuinely useful for the slow route to London, and for Exmouth and Honiton. It is no use at all for a fast Paddington train. If you are catching one, you want St Davids.
The two are about a mile apart, uphill from St Davids to Central, and local trains run between them.
Getting to the station
St Davids has a station car park and sits on several bus routes, but for a day trip the cheaper move is often the park and ride at Honiton Road, Sowton or Matford, where parking is free and an all-day bus ticket is £5.50. Full car park tariffs and the current roadworks are on our roadworks and travel page.
Exeter to London by coach or by car, and when either beats the train
For a town with a two-hour train and four-figure season tickets, the alternatives are worth the arithmetic, and the answer changes depending on whether you are counting hours or pounds.
By coach. National Express runs around a dozen direct services a day between Exeter and London, and it is the cheap option by a distance: fares start from about £11 to £14 one way if you book ahead. The cost is time. The journey is roughly 4 hours to 5 hours depending on the service, against 2h 02m on the fastest train, so a return trip in a day is possible but eats most of it.
By car. Exeter is about 165 to 180 miles from central London, and there are two sensible routes: the A30, A303 and M3, or the M5 and M4 by way of Bristol. They take much the same time, roughly three and a half hours in decent traffic, and both are badly exposed to the single-carriageway stretches of the A303 or to the M4 and M5 on a Friday.
The car looks competitive until you cost the London end. The Congestion Charge is £18 a day from 2 January 2026, applying 07:00 to 18:00 on weekdays and 12:00 to 18:00 at weekends and bank holidays, and ULEZ adds £12.50 if the car does not meet the emissions standard, across every London borough. Add fuel for 340 miles and parking, and a single traveller is almost always better off on the train.
Where the car wins is the group. Two adults and two children driving to London share one set of fuel and charges; the same four buying walk-up train tickets do not. Where the coach wins is anyone with more time than money, and the airport: National Express also runs Exeter directly to Heathrow, which no train does without a change.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the train from Exeter to London take?
The fastest booked journey is 2 hours 2 minutes to London Paddington, on the 07:52. Off-peak fast trains take 2 hours 14 minutes, and stopping services run to 2 hours 45 minutes.
How much is a season ticket from Exeter to London?
An annual season valid on any permitted route costs £20,000, or £500 a week. A cheaper annual season restricted to the Honiton route costs £12,844, or £321.10 a week. Adding a zones 1 to 6 Travelcard takes them to £22,060 and £14,128.
Is there a sleeper train from Exeter to London?
Yes. GWR’s Night Riviera sleeper, running Penzance to London Paddington, picks up at Exeter St Davids at 01:07 Monday to Friday and 01:06 on a Sunday, and reaches Paddington just after 05:00. There is no Saturday service in either direction. Book a cabin and you can stay on board asleep until 06:45 rather than being turned out at five, and the cabin fare includes use of the First Class lounge at Paddington, which has showers.
Are Exeter to London trains slower at weekends?
Usually, yes. GWR puts the route at around 2 hours 10 minutes with a fastest service of 2 hours and up to 72 trains a day, but states plainly that journeys can be longer on public holidays and at weekends. Treat the 2h 02m fastest time as a weekday figure and check your own date.
Is there a direct train from Exeter to London Waterloo?
Yes. South Western Railway runs direct trains via Honiton and Salisbury. The 08:00 from Exeter Central reaches Waterloo at 11:49, a journey of 3 hours 49 minutes, against about 2 hours 15 minutes to Paddington.
Which Exeter station should I use for London?
Exeter St Davids for the fast Paddington trains, which do not call at Exeter Central. Central is on the Waterloo line and is the more convenient of the two on foot from the city centre.
How far is Exeter from London?
About 165 to 180 miles by road, roughly three and a half hours’ driving on either the A303 or the M5 and M4. The fastest train does it in 2 hours 2 minutes, and the coach takes four to five hours.
What is the cheapest way to get to London from Exeter?
An advance single, from £53.50 on South Western Railway and £60.50 on GWR on the days checked. On walk-up fares, tickets restricted via Honiton are consistently cheaper: an Anytime Open Return is £193.00 that way against £299.00 on any route.
Sources
- GWR, Night Riviera Sleeper for the Exeter St Davids sleeper departure times, the no-Saturday pattern, the 06:45 stay-on-board time and the lounge and cabin detail, checked 13 September 2026.
-
GWR, trains from London to Exeter for the 2 hour 10 minute typical journey, the 2 hour fastest service, up to 72 trains a day and the weekend and bank holiday caveat, checked 13 September 2026.
-
traintimes.org.uk, Exeter St Davids to London Paddington for journey times and walk-up fares, National Rail Enquiries data.
- Trainline season tickets, Exeter St Davids to London for weekly, monthly and annual season prices and the route restrictions.
- National Rail station information, Exeter St Davids and Exeter Central for operators and station detail.
Times and fares were checked in August 2026. Rail fares normally change in March, and timetables change in May and December, so confirm against the operator before you travel.
Have your say