Okehampton - 3 Years On

[Ashley Hill]

Are there any plans to resignal the Tarka line in the near future (and by default the Dartmoor line)? The website The Signal Box thinks Exeter, Crediton, Exmouth Junction and Paignton boxes will close in 2026, with control moved to Didcot. However the scale of this job seems too good to be true, which makes me think it was a pre-covid plan that's been delayed and/or scaled back now.

Very unlikely to go to Didcot. More likely to be Exeter Mini-ROC.

 

[The Planner]

Are there any plans to resignal the Tarka line in the near future (and by default the Dartmoor line)? The website The Signal Box thinks Exeter, Crediton, Exmouth Junction and Paignton boxes will close in 2026, with control moved to Didcot. However the scale of this job seems too good to be true, which makes me think it was a pre-covid plan that's been delayed and/or scaled back now.

Ignore anything on that list, its wildly inaccurate now.

 

[brad465]

Ignore anything on that list, its wildly inaccurate now.

Thanks for the tip, is there somewhere that does outline future works with much greater accuracy that's publicly available?

 

[The Planner]

Thanks for the tip, is there somewhere that does outline future works with much greater accuracy that's publicly available?

Not really, even if something does have a date, its probably going to move.

 

[uglymonkey]

It's also just to "improve" things, it doesn't need to be done urgently and so can be delayed I guess.

 

[railfan99]

I took this photo of Okehampton station yesterday evening showing the double tracks stretching achingly towards the Plymouth direction.
View attachment 147072
There’s no doubt the reopening of this line is a major success. It’s a shame that the Dartmoor Railway operations had to cease though.

A terrific photo.

While every proposed rail reopening differs, and some will have more credibility than others, the success of this reopening is proof to Westminster and elsewhere in the UK that done well and with an appropriate population and /or visitor base to support it, taking the plunge and rebuilding the infrastructure can be worthwhile.

Has any group commissioned a study to see if the reopening had added to the local economy through higher expenditure in shops either in Okehampton or major destination Exeter? The line is likely to have encouraged discretionary travel to a greater extent than occurred with previous route buses.

 

[uglymonkey]

I would have thought taxi's in Okehampton have seen a bonus - maybe local B&B as well ?

 

[DelW]

Obviously just anecdotal, but friends and I gave four local pubs and one local bus some business earlier this year, purely because the line offered us an easy day out from Exeter.

 

[davetheguard]

228,000 passengers used the station in 2022/3 of whom nearly half were travelling to Exeter according to the ORR station usage data.

Figure for 2023/24 from the same source is 314,984; a further healthy increase.

 

[Foxcover]

Recently in a hotel on Dartmoor overlooking Meldon viaduct, the hotel runs & publicises a free shuttle from Okehampton for guests arriving via the railway - the railway looks well supported by local businesses which will keep it growing.