THE news that for the first time in nearly 50 years, regular passenger services will run on the Dartmoor Line, connecting Okehampton to Exeter, is being seen as likely to have huge economic, business, tourism and other benefits for the people of Crediton.

It was announced this week that services will launch on Saturday, November 20, marking the first reopening under the Government’s Restoring Your Railway programme, which is exploring ways to return old lines and stations to service across the country.

The route will connect Exeter St David’s, Crediton and Okehampton providing a launchpad for visitors to explore Dartmoor and regional links for local commuters. Crediton will be the only stop along the line.

Around half of services, including at peak times, will also carry on to Exeter Central.

EVERY TWO HOURS

Okehampton trains will run every two hours, increasing to hourly from next May.

Tickets are now on sale online for the Okehampton, Crediton, Exeter service.

Trains will begin at 7.20am until around 10pm with the return ticket from Okehampton being £8, for Crediton it is £4. This can be used throughout the day.

For the price of a £2.50 train ticket, people from Crediton and area can take their bikes right to the edge of Dartmoor with the new Okehampton-Exeter service.

The re-opening of the route is expected to provide greater access to education and work for thousands of people who live locally.

The Department for Transport and its partners have accelerated the re-opening of the railway, delivering passenger services in only nine months from the original funding being approved to entry into service, and saving money at the same time.

As the Government continues its overhaul of the railways following the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, it says more lines and stations will be re-opened.

COLLABORATION

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “The project, funded by more than £40million from the Department for Transport, is part of the wider campaign to reverse catastrophic cuts to the rail network primarily led by the Beeching axe.

“The work has been a successful collaboration between the DfT, Network Rail, GWR, Devon County Council, Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, and local campaigners and MPs.”

Mark Hopwood, GWR Managing Director, said: “Working with our partners at Network Rail and in the community we have long campaigned for the re-opening of this important local line, and we are really looking forward to being able to start running passenger trains again. 

“With the start of services now just over a month away, this announcement is great news for communities surrounding Okehampton who will once again be connected to the national network.

“We’ve been working hard with Network Rail and local partners, including Devon County Council, to help prepare the line and the station at Okehampton for reopening on November 20 and this work will continue after November 20 as we develop the station facilities.

“The project to re-open the line is already helping to bring social and economic benefits to the local area reinforces the positive impact the railway can have on the communities we serve.”

AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

Mike Gallop, Network Rail’s Western route and strategic operations director, said: “We’re delighted that we’ve re-opened this much needed railway line for passenger services in just nine months and ahead of schedule.

“Our team has worked incredibly hard alongside our project partners and the local community to ensure this railway is ready to open.

“We can’t wait to welcome passengers back to the Dartmoor Line after an absence of nearly 50 years, linking passengers to Exeter and services to the rest of the country.”

THRILLED

Mel Stride, the MP for Central Devon, said: “I am thrilled that after a decade of campaigning, a regular passenger service between Okehampton and Exeter has become a reality.

“I am very proud that our Central Devon constituency is the first in the UK to have a service, lost to the Beeching Cuts, restored by the Government.

“It has been a huge amount of hard work by so many people, and a local issue on which I have spent a great deal of time – but it has absolutely been worth it.

“It will provide thousands of my constituents with a rail service on their doorstep, will be a huge economic boost as we bounce back from the impact of Covid-19 and will reduce carbon emissions by taking cars off the A30. I can’t wait to book my first ticket!”

TICKETS NOW ON SALE

Cllr Andrea Davis, Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment and Transport, commented that this would benefit Okehampton as well as Crediton and area.

“You can get tickets from Crediton to Okehampton and back and you don’t have to get the car out to get to Okehampton. It is providing a service to the people of the town,” she added. Many comments were made about the benefits of reducing traffic on the A30.

Stuart Calvert, Capital Delivery Director for Network Rail, commented that Network Rail had built the railway in record time - nine months, including laying 11 miles of new track, installing 24,000 concrete sleepers and 29,000 tonnes of ballast.

Repairs have been made to 21 structures including four bridges. A range of other work including clearing vegetation, earth and drainage works and fencing are still going on.

More work is being done at Okehampton station including further work on the buildings for the cafe and other facilities to open again.

The seven trains, 14 in all, every two hours get you to Exeter from Okehampton in between 35 or 42 minutes. Car parking at Okehampton will be £2, so it could be a day out for a tenner. Check the website: www.gwr.com .

People will also be able to buy tickets at Okehampton through the ticket machine, paying by card, reduced if using a Railcard.

Rob Thomas, communications manager GWR, said the platform at Okehampton has been resurfaced with information screens put in plus a help point such as at Crediton station.

A lot of other work around the station has been done by members of the Dartmoor Railway Association.

Asked about Yeoford, GWR’s Regional Development Manager Matt Barnes said this former junction was not part of this project.

He added that where GWR had introduced two trains an hour, as will happen at Crediton, it has made “a huge difference” in the number of customers with this new service expected to be very popular, the first train getting people into Exeter for 8am.

“Sometime next summer, Crediton will have a half hourly. Just consider the growth in Crediton around that station as well as the new surgery,” he added.