A Brief History of the Dartmoor Line

Devon and Cornwall Railway 1864-1871

The Okehampton Railway was authorised on 17th July 1862 to build a line from Coleford Junction (northwest of Crediton) to Okehampton. After being renamed as the Devon and Cornwall Railway in 1864, the line opened in stages with trains reaching Sampford Courtenay (originally named Okehampton Road and later Belstone Corner) in 1867. Train services to Okehampton began on 3rd October 1871 and the Devon and Cornwall Railway became part of the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) only a year later in 1872.

London & South Western Railway 1872-1922

When completed, the line through Okehampton connected London Waterloo with Plymouth via Salisbury & Exeter. After leaving Exeter Queen St (now called Exeter Central) trains descended the gradient to Exeter St Davids and then ran along the Great Western Railway lines to Cowley Bridge Junction where trains took what is today called the Tarka Line, which ran to Barnstaple & beyond. After passing through Crediton and Yeoford, the Okehampton branch diverged from the North Devon line at Coleford Junction, and then passed through Bow, North Tawton an Sampford Courtenay stations before reaching Okehampton, at 197 miles from London Waterloo.

After Okehampton, the line climbed to Meldon Quarry and crossed the spectacular Meldon Viaduct, built in 1874 and doubled in 1878, over the West Okement river. The granite quarry at Meldon was purchased by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1897 to provide track ballast. The lines to Padstow and Bude branched off just after Meldon viaduct, and the main line continued through Lydford, Tavistock and Bere Alston before reaching Plymouth.

Southern Railway 1923-1947

When most of the smaller railway companies were grouped together into the ‘Big 4’ companies in 1923, the LSWR became part of the Southern Railway. Okehampton had become an important junction station, and was redeveloped into its present format during the early 1930s. The engine shed, turntable and water tower were located at the east end of the station, which is today part of the station car park. The signal box was relocated from Platform 2 to its present Platform 3 site in 1935. Beyond Okehampton station, to the west, were some military sidings, the nearest point on the railway to the large military camp on the Dartmoor above. Troops, munitions, horses and ordnance would have been loaded and unloaded here in vast numbers.
The original station at Meldon Quarry Halt was constructed in the 1920s solely for use by workers at the quarry. Meldon Summit to the west of Meldon Junction was the highest point on the line and also the highest point on the whole of the Southern Railway at 950ft (290m) above sea level.

British Railways, 1948-1994

Following nationalisation in 1948 the line was incorporated into the Southern Region of British Railways, though from 1950-1958 it was transferred to the Western Region but effectively remained under Southern management. The 1950s were the heyday for Okehampton station, with 75 people working around the station and yard, which unloaded an average of 300 wagons per week. Okehampton was the junction where carriages were separated for the 2 Cornish stations (Bude and Padstow) served by the famous Atlantic Coast Express (ACE) with the service also continuing onwards to Plymouth. The ACE ran between 1926 and 1964. The luxury Devon Belle express ran from London to Ilfracombe and Plymouth between 1947 and 1954 consisting of Pullman coaches and an observation car, though the Plymouth service which passed through Okehampton was withdrawn in 1949. From 1960 to 1964, a car carrier service operated on Saturdays from Surbiton, and cars were loaded and unloaded at the military sidings.

Following the 1963 Beeching Report, and transfer back to the Western Region in 1964, a period of decline began with the closure of the through route to Plymouth at Bere Alston in 1968. Afterwards the only services were the stone trains serving Meldon Quarry and a local passenger service to Exeter operated by diesel multiple units. The passenger service was halted on 5th June 1972.

Due to the presence of Meldon Quarry, stone trains continued to operate on the line along with occasional specials. During the Summer of 1985 West Devon Borough Council sponsored a series of summer Saturday trains between Exeter and Okehampton, but these were discontinued.

Regeneration 1994-2008

In 1994 Meldon Quarry was sold to the quarry firm Camas, along with the line from Coleford Junction to Meldon, Okehampton station and Meldon viaduct. From 1994-1996, Devon County Council with West Devon Borough Council, and Dartmoor National Park developed a plan to regenerate Okehampton station to provide tourist facilities, and it was purchased for a nominal sum. The station building was refurbished, the platform raised, the awning restored, and the goods shed converted into a Youth Hostel. The grand reopening of Okehampton station took place on 24th May 1997 and the following day saw the start of a seasonal summer Sunday train service into Exeter. Meldon viaduct was declared a scheduled ancient monument and an extensive restoration project was completed at the end of 1998. The Dartmoor Pony shuttle between Okehampton and a new station at Meldon began in Easter 2000. Until 2008, services were operated by Ealing Community Transport.

The Dartmoor Railway 2008-2014

British American Railway Services Ltd (BARS), a company created by Iowa Pacific Holdings of Chicago, became the new owner of the Dartmoor Railway on 4th Sept 2008. The railway ran for 15.5 miles from Coleford Junction on the Exeter-Barnstaple Tarka Line, as far as Meldon viaduct. Heritage trains operated between Okehampton and Meldon viaduct, with occasional services to Sampford Courtenay and beyond. First Great Western continued to operate a summer Sunday service direct from Exeter between May and September, and a variety of diesel and steam hauled charter trains visited Okehampton. Stone trains ceased to operate when the quarry at Meldon was mothballed in 2011.
The station buildings at Bow and North Tawton remained as private residences, while Sampford Courtenay station was still used by heritage trains and the summer Sunday services from Exeter. Beyond Meldon, 11 miles of the former track bed to Lydford was converted into a cycling and walking route called the Granite Way.

2014-The Present

Heritage trains continued to run to Meldon from Okehampton. BARS’s principal activity was the special ‘Polar Express’ trains during November and December. However, behind the scenes, all was not as it should have been financially and BARS was placed in administration at the start of 2020.

Meanwhile, under Boris Johnson’s government, his ‘Levelling Up’ agenda coupled with intense lobbying locally by the Okerail group came to a successful fruition with the news that the Exeter to Okehampton rail line would at last see regular passenger trains return after an absence of nigh on 50 years. Throughout 2020 preparatory work took place to re open the line which would be called the Dartmoor Line. In 2021 ownership of the line was transferred to Network Rail and much of the track replaced or updated to comply with today’s standards. GWR’s new Exeter to Okehampton service began as a 2 hourly service on 20th November 2021 and increased to an hourly service on 15th May 2022. It has grown from strength to strength with passenger numbers far exceeding the original estimates of the feasibility study; frequently the case with recent rail reinstatement initiatives. 2026 will be another momentous year for the Dartmoor line with a new station (Okehampton Interchange) being built on the eastern side of the town with easy access from the main arterial road route (A30), it is hoped to take more vehicles off the road and lessen the environmental impacts. The station is due to be finished in the spring of 2026 and operational for the start of summer 2026.