Okehampton railway station

Last updated

1997 to 2019

A heritage train operated by a Class 205 in 2009 Okerail1.jpg
A heritage train operated by a Class 205 in 2009

As part of a local partnership scheme initiated and led by Devon County Council, Okehampton station was re-opened in 1997 and a youth hostel was opened in the old goods shed, providing an activity centre as well. [14] The Dartmoor Railway operated heritage passenger services from the station, running to Sampford Courtenay and Meldon. A summer Sunday service from Exeter to Okehampton operated as part of the Dartmoor Sunday Rover network.[ citation needed ]

The station building, which was used by Devon Training for Skills after 1972, was restored and reopened incorporating an independently owned model shop and café. After temporary closure during a change in railway ownership in 2008, the cafe was reopened by the Friends of Dartmoor Railway but closed in 2019. A craft centre previously operated on one of the platforms. This now houses a small exhibition and museum showing the history of the railway and station.[ clarification needed ]

British American Railway Services, a new company created by Iowa Pacific Holdings of Chicago, became the owner of the Dartmoor Railway on 4 September 2008. The company said it would develop freight, passenger and tourist services on the railway. [15] This was never achieved. The last heritage service operated on 24 December 2019.

2021 reopening

In November 2017, the government included the reopening of the line from Exeter to Okehampton as part of its plans to expand the network. [16] Chris Grayling, the secretary of state for transport, wrote to local MPs in January 2018 to inform them of the details. [17]

In January 2020, British American Railway Services announced that due to financial problems, it intended to sell all its British operations, including the Dartmoor Railway. [18] The United Kingdom government's November 2020 Spending Review included a commitment to restore passenger services and £40 million was allocated for reopening the Dartmoor line in the March 2021 government budget. [19]

It was announced on 19 March 2021 that Okehampton station would reopen with regular services by the end of the year, funded as part of the government's Restoring Your Railway programme. [20] Ownership of the northern half (platform 3) of the station was transferred from Devon County Council to Network Rail in July 2021 for £1. The council retains control of the rest of the station (platforms 1 and 2) and is responsible for maintenance of the footbridge. [21] The station and the line reopened on 20 November 2021 [22] [23] with a train every two hours and was increased to hourly in May 2022. [20]

In January 2024 Storm Henk blew the roof off the station footbridge resulting the closure of the station. [24] [25]

Facilities

Although Okehampton is not a staffed station it has a ticket machine, help point, public address system, information screens, CCTV and Wi-Fi. In May 2021, GWR said they would work with the local community to add new facilities including a cafe, Dartmoor National Park visitor centre, a shop, and toilets. [26] [27]

Services

A GWR Class 150 with an Okehampton to Exeter service Okehampton - GWR 150216 leaving for Exeter.JPG
A GWR Class 150 with an Okehampton to Exeter service

All services at Okehampton are operated by Great Western Railway. The service is one train per hour to Exeter St Davids, with most services continuing to Exeter Central. [28] [29]

Okehampton
National Rail logo.svg
2022 at Okehampton station - platform 3.JPG
Okehampton station in 2022
General information
Location Okehampton, West Devon, Devon
England
Coordinates 50°43′57″N3°59′47″W / 50.73244°N 3.99632°W / 50.73244; -3.99632
Grid reference SX592944
Managed by Great Western Railway
Platforms3 (Only 1 in use)
Other information
Station codeOKE
History
Original company London and South Western Railway
Post-grouping Southern Railway
Key dates
1871Opened
1972Closed
1997Heritage services start
2019Heritage services end
2021National rail services resume
Passengers
2018/19Increase2.svg 5,320
Preceding station National Rail logo.svg National Rail Following station
Terminus Great Western Railway Crediton
towards Exeter Central
Disused railways
Maddaford Moor Halt   British Rail Western Region
 Terminus
Bridestowe   British Rail Western Region
  Sampford Courtenay
Meldon Viaduct   Dartmoor Railway
1997–2019
 
Future service
Preceding station National Rail logo.svg National Rail Following station
Terminus Great Western Railway Okehampton Interchange
towards Exeter Central

Future

Both Railfuture and Anthony Steen (who was MP for Totnes at the time[ when? ]) have proposed the reinstatement of the line between Okehampton and Bere Alston, thereby reconnecting the station with Plymouth. [30] The reopening of the link would restore the continuous circuit of railway linking the towns around Dartmoor. On 18 March 2008, Devon County Council backed a separate proposal by developers Kilbride Community Rail to construct 750 houses in Tavistock that included reopening part of this route from Bere Alston to a new railway station in Tavistock. [31]

The line's reopening would provide an alternative route to Plymouth and the Cornish Main Line in the event of engineering work or storms on the sea wall near Dawlish, although that would entail a reversal by GWR trains at Exeter St Davids and at Plymouth for all trains continuing to Cornwall. Reopening the line would also maintain rail links in the long-term should the line around Dawlish succumb to the sea, as it did on 5 February 2014. [32] [33]

Shortly after the Okehampton railway station was reopened there was plans for another Okehampton station to be opened called Okehampton Parkway. On 10 May 2024 it was announced that this new station would be known as Okehampton Interchange [34]

Connections

The Devon Coast to Coast Cycleway Route 27 created by Sustrans passes the station.

A dedicated service 118 rail link bus service links Okehampton station with the town centre and Tavistock. It is timed to connect with train services at the station. [35]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Okehampton</span> Town in Devon, England

Okehampton is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and had a population of 5,922 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards are based in the town. Their joint population at the same census was 7,500.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dartmoor line</span> Railway line in Devon, England

The Dartmoor line is a 15+1⁄2-mile (24.9 km) railway line in Devon, England. From Crediton, the line runs alongside the Tarka Line to the site of the former Coleford Junction where it diverges west to Okehampton. Previously a heritage line, it is owned by Network Rail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West of England line</span> British railway line

The West of England line is a British railway line from Basingstoke, Hampshire, to Exeter St Davids in Devon, England. Passenger services run between London Waterloo station and Exeter; the line intersects with the Wessex Main Line at Salisbury. Despite its historic title, it is not today's principal route from London to the West of England: Exeter and everywhere further west are reached more quickly from London Paddington via the Reading–Taunton line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarka Line</span> Local railway line in Devon, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exeter St Davids railway station</span> Railway station in Devon, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crediton railway station</span> Railway station in Devon, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bere Alston railway station</span> Railway station in Devon, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Devon and Tavistock Railway</span> Railway line in England

The South Devon and Tavistock Railway linked Plymouth with Tavistock in Devon; it opened in 1859. It was extended by the Launceston and South Devon Railway to Launceston, in Cornwall in 1865. It was a broad gauge line but from 1876 also carried the standard gauge trains of the London and South Western Railway between Lydford and Plymouth: a third rail was provided, making a mixed gauge. In 1892 the whole line was converted to standard gauge only.

The Okehampton–Bude line was a railway line built to serve Holsworthy in Devon, and Bude on the Cornish coast near the Devon border in England. The line branched from the main line at Meldon Junction to the west of Okehampton on the northern edge of Dartmoor. The line opened in 1879 to Holsworthy and in 1898 to Bude. It is now closed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exeter to Plymouth railway of the LSWR</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meldon Viaduct railway station</span> Railway station in Devon, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meldon Viaduct</span> Bridge in United Kingdom

Meldon Viaduct is a disused railway viaduct crossing the West Okement River at Meldon, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south-west of Okehampton, on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon, South West England. This truss bridge was constructed from wrought iron, instead of stone or brick arches. It opened in 1874 for a single track; in 1879 its width was doubled for a second track. Although regular services were withdrawn in 1968, the bridge was used for shunting by a local quarry. In the 1990s the remaining single track was removed.

Okehampton Interchange is a proposed railway station in Okehampton on the Dartmoor Line. The station would be part of the Devon Metro and has been described as a priority station. The station is to be sited off Exeter Road, by the Business Park and close to the junction with the A30, in the Stockley Hamlet area of Okehampton. It would also serve 900 new homes to be built nearby.

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References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 Holland 2014, p. 20.
  2. ↑ "Small railway station that survived axe now flourishes". Exeter Express and Echo. 15 October 2006. p. 4.
  3. ↑ Thomas 1975, p. 103.
  4. ↑ "1838–1919 Clerical Staff" . London and South Western Railway: 268. 1838. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  5. ↑ "Changes in L. & S.W. Railway Station-Masters" . Western Times. England. 7 May 1898. Retrieved 7 July 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ "Mr. F. Russell" . Western Times. England. 28 July 1902. Retrieved 7 July 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ↑ "Various" . Cornish & Devon Post. England. 7 January 1905. Retrieved 7 July 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ↑ "Padstow. Retirement of Mr. E.C. Watkins" . Cornish Guardian. England. 10 December 1926. Retrieved 7 July 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ↑ "Mr. F.S. Stretch" . North Devon Journal. England. 2 October 1919. Retrieved 7 July 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ↑ "Okehampton's New Stationmaster" . Western Times. England. 22 February 1929. Retrieved 7 July 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ↑ "Okehampton Presentation" . Western Times. England. 18 January 1935. Retrieved 7 July 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ↑ "Promotion for Stationmaster" . Western Times. England. 6 December 1940. Retrieved 7 July 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ↑ "Presentation" . Western Times. England. 14 September 1945. Retrieved 7 July 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ↑ "YHA Okehampton". Matlock, Derbyshire: YHA . Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  15. ↑ Heritage Railway. No. 116. Mortons Media Groups. 2 October 2008. p. 18.{{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. ↑ "Connecting people: a strategic vision for rail" (PDF). Department for Transport. November 2017.
  17. ↑ French, Tom (30 January 2018). "Government prepares plans to introduce regular train services to Okehampton". Okehampton Times . Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  18. ↑ Pitt, Sarah (9 January 2020). "Dartmoor Railway is put up for sale". Okehampton Times . Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  19. ↑ "Budget 2021: Okehampton-Exeter train route receives £40m". BBC News . 4 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  20. 1 2 "Dartmoor line rail services will be restored for first time in half a century". GOV.UK . Department for Transport. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  21. ↑ Holden, Alan (4 July 2021). "Dartmoor Line and Okehampton railway station purchased by Network Rail". RailAdvent. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  22. ↑ "Government restores the Dartmoor Line as services resume for first time in half a century from 20 November". Network Rail . Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  23. ↑ Kennedy, Catherine (12 October 2021). "How engineers restored the abandoned Dartmoor railway line in just nine months". New Civil Engineer . Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  24. ↑ "Storm Henk: Heavy rain and strong winds batter parts of UK". BBC News. 2 January 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  25. ↑ Seaman, Molly (2 January 2024). "Damaged footbridge roof rips off and blows onto railway line". Devon Live. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  26. ↑ Clinnick, Richard (19 May 2021). "Okehampton on track for passengers to return in December". Rail . No. 931. Bauer Media Group. pp. 16–17.
  27. ↑ "Tickets available for Dartmoor Line services ahead of launch next month". RailAdvent. 13 October 2021.
  28. ↑ "Train times: Exeter to Barnstaple and Okehampton" (PDF). Great Western Railway. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  29. ↑ Table 136 National Rail timetable, May 2022
  30. ↑ "Rail line will be lost to the sea". Western Morning News . 3 May 2006. p. 6.
  31. ↑ Harris, Nigel (2008). "Taking trains back to Tavistock". Rail . No. 590. Bauer. pp. 40–45.
  32. ↑ "Alternative to coast rail line lacks support". Western Morning News . 4 January 2006. p. 2.
  33. ↑ "Devon and Cornwall storm causes 'devastation'". BBC News . 5 February 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  34. ↑ "I bet you didn't know the name of the new Okehampton station?". news.GWR. GWR. 13 May 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  35. ↑ "Rail Link bus for Okehampton station". The Dartmoor Line. Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership. 12 November 2021.

Sources

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