Okehampton rejoins rail network after 49 years
Oct 12, 2021 17:05:29 GMT
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Post by wirewiper on Oct 12, 2021 17:05:29 GMT
It has been announced that rail services between Okehampton and Exeter will start on Saturday 20th November 2021, this will be the first reopening under the Government's "Restoring Your Railway" scheme. It will be the first regular passenger service over the 14km line since they were withdrawn in 1972, although the line has remained open for freight and a Summer Sunday service was operated from 1997 to 2019.
Initially a two-hourly daily service will operate between Okehampton and Exeter St David's; this will increase to hourly in May, when some journeys will operate through to and from Exeter Central including all peak-time services.
Devon County Council already intends to extend its supported bus route 118 to Okehampton Station, this will link Tavistock and Lydford into the new service. Devon is also looking at extending the service at the other end to Bere Alston, which would link in with the other surviving section of the London and South Western Railway's Exeter-Plymouth main line*. A link from Okehampton Station to Hatherleigh is also under coinsideration. Further bus links are possible when the planned Okehampton East Parkway station is opened.
Campaigners have been calling for the reinstatement of the entire route between Exeter and Plymouth, and Devon County Council has submitted separate bids to restore rail services between Okehampton and Tavistock, and between Tavistock and Bere Alston (Plymouth).
* The Exeter-Plymouth via Okehampton route was once the backbone of the London and South Western Railway's extensive network of rural routes reaching through North Devon and Cornwall to the Atlantic Coast, known as the "Withered Arm" because of its appearance on the map. Apart from Exeter-Okehampton, the only survivors of this network West of Exeter are the Exeter-Barnstaple line; and the Plymouth-Bere Alston section of the former main line together with the Gunnislake branch - these latter two were retained due to the poor road links between the villages in the Tamar Valley and Plymouth.
Initially a two-hourly daily service will operate between Okehampton and Exeter St David's; this will increase to hourly in May, when some journeys will operate through to and from Exeter Central including all peak-time services.
Devon County Council already intends to extend its supported bus route 118 to Okehampton Station, this will link Tavistock and Lydford into the new service. Devon is also looking at extending the service at the other end to Bere Alston, which would link in with the other surviving section of the London and South Western Railway's Exeter-Plymouth main line*. A link from Okehampton Station to Hatherleigh is also under coinsideration. Further bus links are possible when the planned Okehampton East Parkway station is opened.
Campaigners have been calling for the reinstatement of the entire route between Exeter and Plymouth, and Devon County Council has submitted separate bids to restore rail services between Okehampton and Tavistock, and between Tavistock and Bere Alston (Plymouth).
* The Exeter-Plymouth via Okehampton route was once the backbone of the London and South Western Railway's extensive network of rural routes reaching through North Devon and Cornwall to the Atlantic Coast, known as the "Withered Arm" because of its appearance on the map. Apart from Exeter-Okehampton, the only survivors of this network West of Exeter are the Exeter-Barnstaple line; and the Plymouth-Bere Alston section of the former main line together with the Gunnislake branch - these latter two were retained due to the poor road links between the villages in the Tamar Valley and Plymouth.
