Tarka Line

The Tarka Line, also known as the North Devon Line, is a local railway line in Devon, England. It links the city of Exeter with the town of Barnstaple and is operated by Great Western Railway. The line opened between Exeter and Crediton in 1851; it was completed through to Barnstaple in 1854. The line was taken over by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1865; it later became part of the Southern Railway and then British Rail. In 2001, following privatisation, Wessex Trains introduced the name Tarka Line, after the eponymous character in Henry Williamson's book Tarka the Otter. The line was transferred to First Great Western in 2006.

It is one of the railway lines supported by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership and passenger numbers on the line have more than tripled since 2001.