Okehampton railway station is a terminus

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

on the

Dartmoor line The Dartmoor line is a railway line in Devon, England. From , the line runs alongside the Tarka Line to the site of the former Coleford Junction where it diverges west to . Previously a heritage line, it is owned by Network Rail. The route ...

serving the town of

Okehampton Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, 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 i ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England. The station closed to regular traffic in 1972, but heritage and occasional mainline services ran from 1997 to 2019. Regular railway services resumed in November 2021.

History

The station opened in 1871 when the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

(LSWR) extended its line from . Services were extended further west to with the inauguration of

Meldon Viaduct Meldon Viaduct carried the London & South Western Railway (LSWR) across the West Okement River at Meldon (near Okehampton) on Dartmoor in Devon, South West England. The truss bridge, which was constructed from wrought iron and cast iron not st ...

in 1874. Constructed to rival the South Devon Railway route to Plymouth, the completion of the LSWR's own route to Plymouth saw Okehampton become an important junction with lines to

Padstow Padstow (; kw, Lannwedhenek) is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately northwest of Wadebridge, ...

and as well as .

Boat train A boat train is a passenger train operating to a port for the specific purpose of making connection with a passenger ship, such as a ferry, ocean liner, or cruise ship. Through ticketing is normally available. __NOTOC__ Notable named boat trains ...

s carrying passengers from ocean liners calling at Stonehouse Pool, Plymouth and prestige services such as the

Atlantic Coast Express The ''Atlantic Coast Express'' (''ACE'') is an express passenger train in England that has operated at various times between London and seaside resorts in the South West England. It is currently operated as a summer only service by Great Weste ...

and

Devon Belle The ''Devon Belle'' was a luxury express passenger train in England which ran between London Waterloo station and Ilfracombe and Plymouth in Devon in the years from 1947 to 1954. The train The Southern Railway was anxious to encourage the resum ...

all used the route. From 1960 to 1964 it was the terminus of a car-carrying train from . With the publication of the

Beeching Report Beeching is an English surname. Either a derivative of the old English ''bece'', ''bæce'' "stream", hence "dweller by the stream" or of the old English ''bece'' "beech-tree" hence "dweller by the beech tree".''Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames' ...

in 1963, the line to Bude was put forward for closure as was part of the Exeter to Plymouth Line which was to be cut back to Okehampton. The local press were surprised at this decision, since many small towns had their railway services cut, yet Okehampton survived with a population under 4,000. Its survival prompted questions as to why the line should remain open when others, such as the

Avocet Line The Avocet Line is the railway line in Devon, England connecting Exeter with Exmouth. It was originally built by the London and South Western Railway, and was historically known as the Exmouth branch railway. The line follows the Exe Estuary fo ...

which saw far more traffic, were proposed for closure. It was said that at the time Okehampton had about 50 regular users per day and a handful of season ticket holders. The Avocet Line was saved from closure, but Okehampton lost its passenger services from 1972. The line survived, however, for the purposes of freight thanks to the activities of the

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

ballast Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship, ...

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...

at Meldon, three miles from Okehampton, which had an output of 300,000 tons per year. The line to the quarry closed in 2011.

Stationmasters

*William Hodge 1871 - 1898 (formerly station master at North Tawton) *Frank Russell 1898 – 1902 (formerly station master at Halwill Junction, afterward stationmaster at Eastleigh) *J. B. Lodder 1902 – 1905 (afterward station master at Launceston) *Walter Hinde until 1909 (afterward station master at Ilfracombe) *Edwin Charles Watkins 1909 – 1919 (formerly station master at Barnstaple, afterward station master at Padstow) *F. S. Stretch 1919 – 1921 (formerly station master at Padstow, afterward station master at Sidmouth) *Frederick Brazier 1921 – 1926 (afterward station master at Wadebridge) *Mr. Phillips 1926 – 1929 *Mr Whitford 1929 – 1933 *E. E. Northcott 1933 – 1934 *Percy C. Hayman 1934 – 1940 (afterward station master at Templecombe) *H. Pengelly 1940 – 1945 (afterward station master at Exeter Central)

1997 to 2019

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 A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared ba ...

was opened in the old

goods shed A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before or after carriage in a train. A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, although sometimes they were built ...

, providing an activity centre as well. The

Dartmoor Railway The Dartmoor line is a railway line in Devon, England. From , the line runs alongside the Tarka Line to the site of the former Coleford Junction where it diverges west to . Previously a heritage line, it is owned by Network Rail. The route ...

operated heritage passenger services from the station, running to and Meldon. A summer Sunday service from Exeter to Okehampton operated as part of the Dartmoor Sunday Rover network. 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. British American Railway Services Ltd, a new company created by

Iowa Pacific Holdings Iowa Pacific Holdings was a holding company that owned railroad properties across North America and the United Kingdom, as well as providing services such as railcar repairs, leasing, management and consulting services to other operators. The comp ...

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. 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;

Chris Grayling Christopher Stephen Grayling (born 1 April 1962) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician and author who served as Secretary of State for Transport from 2016 to 2019. He has served as Member of Parliament (United King ...

, the secretary of state for transport, wrote to local MPs in January 2018 to inform them of the details. 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. 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. 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 The Beeching cuts were a reduction of route network and restructuring of British Rail in the 1960s. Since the mid-1990s there has been significant growth in passenger numbers on the railways and renewed government interest in the role of rail ...

programme. Ownership of the northern half (platform 3) of the station was transferred from Devon County Council to

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

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. The station and the line reopened on 20 November 2021 with a train every two hours and was increased to hourly in May 2022.

Facilities

Although Okehampton is not a staffed station it has a ticket machine, help point, public address system, information screens, CCTV and WiFi. 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.

Services

Okehampton - GWR 150216 leaving for Exeter

All services at Okehampton are operated by

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

. The service is one train per hour to , with most services continuing to .

Future

Both

Railfuture Railfuture (formerly the Railway Development Society) is a UK advocacy group which promotes better rail services for passengers and freight across a bigger rail network. The group's national policies are determined by its national board of dir ...

and Anthony Steen (who was MP for Totnes at the time) have proposed the reinstatement of the line between Okehampton and

Bere Alston Bere Alston is a village in West Devon in the county of Devon in England. It forms part of the civil parish of Bere Ferrers. History and geography With a population of about 2,000, the village lies in the Bere peninsula, between the river ...

, thereby reconnecting the station with Plymouth. 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 Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13,028 ...

that included reopening part of this route from

to a new railway station in

. The line's reopening would provide an alternative route to

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

and the

Cornish Main Line The Cornish Main Line ( kw, Penn-hyns-horn Kernow) is a railway line in Cornwall and Devon in the United Kingdom. It runs from Penzance to Plymouth, crossing from Cornwall into Devon over the famous Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash. It directly ...

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 Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. 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.

Connections

The Devon Coast to Coast Cycleway Route 27 created by

Sustrans Sustrans is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network. Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created of signed cycle routes throughout the United Kin ...

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.

References

Citations Sources * *

External links

Dartmoor Line websiteDartmoor Railway Association website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okehampton Railway Station Railway stations in Devon Heritage railway stations in Devon Former London and South Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1871 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1972 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1997 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 2019 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 2021 Railway stations served by Great Western Railway Privately owned railway stations in the United Kingdom

Railway Station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

Railway stations opened by Network Rail