A LONG time stalwart of Devon and Cornwall’s branch lines has retired after 28 years.

Richard Burningham MBE started as Manager of the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership, based at the University of Plymouth, in April 1998, working with his small team to promote use of the branch lines and the places they serve, improve train services and station facilities and to link the community and the railway.

The many initiatives Richard has led include the expansion of Sunday services on a number of branch lines, starting in 2001 with the first Winter Sunday Tamar Valley Line trains since the 1960s, the establishment of Rail Ale Trails, the Tamar Valley Line Carnets and the EU Interreg Citizens’ Rail project which introduced two trains an hour in Torbay and saw major improvements at Exeter St Thomas and Torre stations.

He also was pivotal in making the Devon & Cornwall Railcard available to buy online and have on a mobile phone, the first regional railcard to be available in this way.

Richard and his team have conducted waves of rail promotion over the years, including significant activity to promote Cornwall Council and Devon County Council backed and led improvements such as the passing loop at Penryn and the doubling of the Maritime Line service, the opening of the Dartmoor Line between Exeter and Okehampton, new stations at Newcourt, Cranbrook and Marsh Barton and, most recently, the doubling of Newquay’s train service in the first phase of Mid Cornwall Metro.

The service improvements and promotion have led to huge increases in the number of journeys being made on Devon and Cornwall’s branch lines.

In 2001, the Partnership worked on five lines (Tarka, Tamar Valley, Looe Valley, Newquay and Maritime/Falmouth).

That year, the earliest for which figures are available, a total of 603,295 journeys were made on these five lines. The total for the same five lines last year, 2025, was 2,155,232, a 257% increase.

The biggest increases were seen on the Tarka and Maritime (Falmouth) Lines, 360% and 330% respectively.

Under Richard’s leadership, the Partnership has won several awards for its marketing and community projects and activity.

Part of the promotional activity has included celebrating the history and heritage of the local rail network. He played a major role in celebrating significant anniversaries on a number of lines including the centenary of the line to Gunnislake in 2008, 150 years of trains to Looe in 2010 and the Maritime Line (Falmouth) in 2013 and 150th anniversary of the railway arriving in Okehampton which fell in 2021 as the line was being prepared for reopening.

Indeed on the Tarka Line, as well as the 150th anniversary in 2004, he helped Barnstaple celebrate the 170th in 2024. Just last year, he led the project which saw new heritage displays created at Crediton and Yeoford stations.

He also led projects on the Looe Valley Line which included creating a heritage centre at Liskeard station and a dedicated Looe Rail Heritage app.

At Okehampton, for the Dartmoor Line reopening, he organised all the heritage signage, a recreated 1950s booking office and a period waiting room and arranged the funding for the Dartmoor Information Centre and the Dartmoor Railway Association shop.

Last year, for Railway 200, he led the Partnership’s Fantastic Facts project and the creation of the Devon & Cornwall Railway 200 Stamp Trail.

Richard said: “This has been a fabulous job and I am really pleased that my colleagues and I have made a real difference, particularly on the branch lines, thanks to the strong support of our Partners. None of it would have been possible without that, likewise the dedicated work of my colleagues over the years for which I thank them.

“Back in 2000, no Cornish branch line had an all year round Sunday service. They tended to be one Bank Holiday Sunday in May and then July and August. Now all bar one line has an all year Sunday service and even that one, the Looe Valley Line, has Sunday trains from Easter to the beginning of November.

“Today each of the branch lines has their best ever train service and all are well used. I am proud of the part I have played in getting our local railways to this position. More and more people are finding the train works for them as a great way to get around and long may that continue.”

Professor Jon Shaw, Chair of the Partnership and Head of the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Plymouth, said: “It is difficult to over-estimate the impact Richard has had on the branch lines of the far south west. His leadership in the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership has been outstanding, and stands as a testament to what can be achieved when key stakeholders come together in pursuit of a goal that benefits us all.

“I wish Richard well for his retirement and look forward to a very bright future for the Devon and Cornwall’s railways that in no small measure will be thanks to Richard’s sterling work over the best part of the last three decades.”

GWR Business Assurance Director Joe Graham said: "Richard is one of those rare people who has quietly and consistently made the railway better for everyone, over nearly three decades.

"The branch lines of Devon and Cornwall are genuinely transformed from where they were when Richard took on his role in 1998. Sunday services that simply didn't exist, new stations, doubled frequencies, award-winning community projects and heritage celebrations that have brought the railway's story to life for a whole new generation. That is an extraordinary legacy, and Richard's fingerprints are on all of it.

"We have been proud partners of the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership throughout that journey, and we are grateful for everything Richard has contributed, not just to the railway, but to the communities and places these lines serve.

“We wish him a very well-earned and happy retirement.”

The Partnership is a non-profit one between local authorities including Cornwall Council and Devon County Council, the rail industry, including GWR, South Western Railway and CrossCountry Trains and the University of Plymouth.

It is the longest established of the 75 Community Rail Partnerships across the country and covers seven branch lines from the Exeter – Barnstaple “Tarka Line” in the east to the St Ives Bay Line in the west. It also includes the East Devon Line, the Axminster – Exeter section of South Western Railway’s London Waterloo route.

Before joining the Partnership, Richard spent 15 years with British Rail, starting in the ticket office at Leatherhead in Surrey at a young age. He managed the Travel Centres at Barnstaple and Bath Spa, was a press officer for the Southern Region and spent six years as Public Relations Officer for the South West Division of Network SouthEast, now South Western Railway.

He has long been a supporter of and involved with the national membership body for Community Rail Partnerships, the Community Rail Network, formerly the Association of Community Rail Partnerships.

He was the organisation’s first Vice Chair, served as Chair between 2018 and 2022 and remains a member of the Board.

Richard was awarded the MBE for “Services to the rail industry in the South West” in the 2010 New Year Honours.