IF people are serious about the new Okehampton train service stopping at Yeoford, then instead of maybe 50 or 100 people sending individual letters, a petition at this stage would be more useful.

This was what Cllr Frank Letch, Devon County Council member for the area told Crediton Hamlets Parish Council this week.

He said he was hoping trains would stop at Yeoford but one problem was dealing with access for people with disabilities.

Instead of people contacting him individually, he hoped someone would come forward to take this further. He could then present this to the county council.

Reopening the Okehampton railway line later this year would mean more trains every day between Crediton and Exeter.

The line closed to passenger traffic almost 50 years ago, one of the Beeching cuts.

It is the first in the Government’s Restoring Your Railway initiatives. Devon received £40 million to bring back the regular, daily passenger rail service.

It will be only the third railway to open for regular passenger services in Devon and Cornwall in 100 years.

Services will begin later this year on the 14-mile stretch of railway – known as the Dartmoor Line – for a regular, daily passenger rail service between Okehampton and Exeter, stopping at Crediton.

Network Rail has completed a range of works including drainage, fencing and earthworks, and laid more than 11 miles of track, replaced 24,000 concrete sleepers and has installed nearly 29,000 tonnes of ballast. It is now running test trains on the track ahead of fully reopening the railway to passengers.

It is estimated that the train journey between Exeter and Okehampton would be about 30 per cent quicker than by car or bus, helping reduce road traffic and putting people in the centre of Exeter with no car park fee.

Network Rail said this would also provide better access into Cornwall and West Devon and greatly improve possibilities for those who need to get to Exeter for work or study.

TRANSPORT HUB

The development of the railway and Okehampton station as a transport hub will also help boost tourism and has the potential to bring millions of pounds into the area.

At Crediton, Christian Irwin, Network Rail’s Industry Programme Director said no work was being done other than in the signal box to cater for “one-and-a-half trains an hour” with the two-hourly Dartmoor service.

NEW BRIDGE

The new bridge at Penstone, which sat in a field nearby for a year, was lifted in place in April.

An underpass at Colebrooke was filled in but the biggest changes will be at Okehampton where the Dartmoor Line ran its last train in December 2019, shortly before it went into administration.

Mark Hopwood, GWR Managing Director, said that returning regular, daily services to this line has been a long-held ambition and was the most sought-after additional route in its most recent franchise consultation.

Okehampton County Councillor Andrea Davis, Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Development, a member of campaign group OkeRail said: “Devon County Council financed and kept the Sunday service going and this proved that you could do it and that there was enough interest in a train on a summer Sunday and that this could work.”

The service for Okehampton would be “a massive benefit” for the area and attract investment.

It is 170 years since the railway opened for Crediton and then Okehampton, 49 years since Beeching saw the line as not needed and closed it for passengers. It was fortunate in a way that the line was needed until recently for trains carrying stone from Meldon Quarry.

Richard Burningham MBE, Manager of Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, added: "The new Okehampton service will be great for Crediton.  It will create a new direct and fast public transport link between the two and will mean more trains between Crediton and Exeter, increasing the service to two an hour when there is an Okehampton train. 

“Use of Crediton station nearly doubled over 10 years from 36,784 passengers in 2009-10 to 66,606 in 2019-20 (April - March) and I am very confident that many more Crediton people will find the train is a great way to travel, particularly when the Okehampton line reopens."

Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, said: “The return of all-year services to the picturesque Dartmoor Line for the first time in half a century is a milestone moment in our efforts to restore our railways.

“Reversing lost railway connections breathes new life into our high streets, drives tourism and investment in businesses and housing, and opens new opportunities for work and education.”

Christian Irwin said: “We are grateful to our partners and supporters who are helping make this a realisation and would like to thank local residents living near to the railway for their patience whilst we ramp up our activity to get the track ready.”