THE Dartmoor and Tarka railway lines through Crediton will stay closed until at least February 18, Network Rail has said.

No trains have been able to operate between Exeter and Okehampton or Exeter and Barnstaple since Tuesday, January 27 due to flooding from Storm Chandra.

Engineers have fixed damaged sections of track, but specialist dive teams cannot yet safely inspect bridges and viaducts as water levels are still too high and rivers flowing too fast.

Many passengers have expressed frustration at how limited replacement bus services have been, with only hourly return coach services between Exeter St Davids and Barnstaple and Exeter St Davids and Okehampton.

Many of the bus services have been cancelled or run late or early, some stations not receiving a service such as Yeoford.

A daytime road closure on the A377 at Eggesford for tree felling has hampered the service, some Barnstaple to Exeter services travelling via the North Devon Link Road and Tiverton.

GWR has advised rail tickets can be used on 5, 5A, 5B, 5C, and 66 Stagecoach bus services.

“We’re really sorry for the continued disruption on these lines following Storm Chandra,” GWR Director of Performance and Train Service Delivery and Director of Network Rail Western Network Operations Daryn McCombe recently said.

"GWR and Network Rail teams have been working tirelessly to safely keep customers moving wherever possible.

“We've been able to fix the problems we can see, but it's really important to make sure that underwater structures remain sound and it's not safe for divers to enter the water yet.

"We're working with our weather forecasting teams and monitoring the river levels so that the divers can enter the water as soon as conditions allow.”

Flooding also forced the closure of the Tarka Line in November as three bridges had to be inspected for damage.

North Devon MP Ian Roome recently launched a petition to call on Network Rail and GWR to make the Tarka Line more resilient to inclement weather.

The Liberal Democrat presented the petition, which has gathered more than 3,000 signatures, in the House of Commons on Wednesday, February 4.

“Further to our online petition signed by over 3,000 people calling for the Tarka rail line to be future-proofed, I present this petition on behalf of rail passengers in northern Devon who have suffered overcrowding and repeated service disruption due to flooding this winter despite a record-breaking 1,000,000 rail journeys per year between Barnstaple and Exeter,” he said in Parliament.

“Following Storm Chandra, all trains have been cancelled. North Devon's rail link has been shut.

“The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the government to ask Network Rail and Great Western Rail to prioritise the Tarka Line for improvements and to work together to make rail travel in North Devon more resilient.”

Mr Roome added later: “If rail travel in North Devon is to be a success story, and extreme weather more common, we need long-term enhancements to the line to avoid situations we've faced these past weeks - and will undoubtedly face again next winter.

“I will meet with Network Rail in the coming days.”