Railway link reopens to Okehampton and Dartmoor
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Regular passenger services began operating again from Exeter to Okehampton on 20th November 2021. The Dartmoor Line is the first route in the country to be reopened under the government's £ 40 million Restoring Your Railway initiative. The new service saw over 10,000 passengers using it in the first two weeks. The timetable of seven trains a day each way is already popular with commuters and students travelling on the early morning trains to Exeter. It is also attracting tourists and walkers using the route to spend a day in Okehampton or walking on Dartmoor.
The Dartmoor line leaves the Exeter to Barnstaple railway shortly after Crediton station. It runs for through 14 miles of rural Devon to reach Okehampton with magnificent views of Dartmoor. Passenger trains stopped running to Okehampton in 1972. However the track remained in use for freight trains to Meldon Quarry and for a Sunday service most summers. During the winter and spring of 2021, extensive track relaying prepared the line for regular passenger services.
Restoring passenger trains to Okehampton will help the local business economy and provide opportunities for more tourism. It should also ease road congestion.
Two further bids have been submitted by Devon County Council as part of the Restoring Your Railway initiative. The first is to help finance the relaying of track from Bere Alston to Tavistock in West Devon. The second is the plan to restore the rail service from Okehampton to Tavistock around the north side of Dartmoor. Trains ceased to run on this line in 1968. As well as stimulating the local economy, the restoration of this route would also provide an alternative rail link to Plymouth and Cornwall when storm waves restrict the coastal route at Dawlish.
More details of this new rail development can be found in this Railway Gazette article:
Full details of the project, timetables and ticket options can be found at The Dartmoor Line - Now Open