"To secure a new rail link between Bideford and Barnstaple and upgrade of the North Devon (Tarka) Line between Exeter and Barnstaple, championing their transformational benefits for communities and businesses and advocating to decision-makers the economic, social and environmental case for developing and investing in the project." (inaugural event of Northern Devon Railway Development Alliance, 1st March 2024).
Find out more via ACE Rail (Facebook) and Tarka Line friends and groups (Facebook) and follow / like / post.
Register your support for this award-winning campaign, affiliated to Railfuture - to become a part of Devon Metro?
See also the Railfuture-affiliated North Devon Line - Rail Promotion Group (formerly the Tarka Rail Association).
For recent (early-2020) views of the existing North Devon (Tarka) Line watch Driver's Eye View of the journey from Barnstaple to Exeter St Davids Barnstaple - Eggesford. Part 1 of 2 (23 minutes) and Eggesford - Exeter St Davids. Part 2 of 2 (33 minutes).
For more recent - post-Dartmoor Line re-opening - cab rides watch from Exeter St Davids (platform 3) to Okehampton, and from Okehampton to Exeter St Davids (bay platform 2).
The track was finally lifted in 1985 and the land purchased by Devon County Council for use as a footpath and cycleway. The potential of this line was reiterated in the March 1988, May 1989 and March 1998 publication of the A - Z of Rail Re-openings also published by the Railway Development Society - see RDS books. Bideford-Barnstaple featured too as one of the 26 proposals in the 6-page pamphlet Bring Back our Tracks. Published by the Railway Development Society in June 1996, it can be viewed here. Despite the potential of this route for rail passengers, 22nd April 1987 marked the opening as part of the South West Coastal Path by the Rt. Honourable William Waldegrave, Environment Minister, and on 28th May 1992 the Tarka Trail was opened by the then H.R.H. Prince of Wales, now King Charles III.
By the 2021 Census the population of 'Greater Bideford' (Appledore, Bideford, East-the-Water, Northam, and Westward Ho!) was estimated to be over 30,000 having continued to grow by about 3,000 per decade since the trackbed was converted to become the Tarka Trail. A c.9-mile extension of the Exeter - Barnstaple railway to Bideford would add substantially to its effective catchment area. The journey time could be c.10-15 minutes from Barnstaple to Bideford. With some relatively modest Tarka Line line upgrading, a 70-minute journey time between Exeter Central and Bideford could be possible. Compared to the Barnstaple to Bideford bus link the rail service would then save around 45 to 55 minutes, although still be only marginally better than the journey-time by car.
Accordingly the case for restoring a rail service to Bideford has long-appeared to be strong. Way back in 1992 Railway Development Society volunteers conducted a site survey of the original route to determine whether the former line could be reopened, as just one of the options for re-establishing a mainline rail link between Barnstaple and Bideford for through services to and from Exeter.
Additional work has been done since that date, 30 years ago now, to check for changes. One of the problems identified has been the installation of a sewer pipeline beneath the track-bed between Yelland and Instow. Other challenges relate to the overlay of the well-used and much-loved Tarka Trail tourist initiative on to this closed section of what was the North Devon main line. Although the route was never built for double track it was originally broad gauge to the outskirts of Bideford, so potentially aiding the building of a new rail alignment alongside the Tarka Trail footpath and cyclepath. That however will neither be possible for Instow tunnel, nor desirable for the level crossing there (which Network Rail will probably resist anyway) and for Fremington Quay, all pointing to a section of completely new inland route - in a not dissimilar way from the new A39 carving a completely new inland route back in the '80s.
The station in Bideford remains as two distinct halves to either side of the Station Hill / Railway Terrace underbridge. The northern half has two remaining platforms opposite the Royal Hotel. South of the underbridge the Bideford Railway Heritage Centre CIC are restoring the remainder of the station as a museum with a short running line; the station building itself is owned by the Royal Hotel. Okehampton now offers an example of mainline and heritage operations co-existing on opposite tracks in the same station; examples elsewhere include Eridge in East Sussex and Matlock in Derbyshire. As Bideford covers an expanding area many potential rail users would doubtless wish to use their own vehicles to get to and from the railway; a new parkway station could be built by the new Torridge Bridge where the A39 has a junction with the B3233. This would serve the outer west side of Bideford along with Northam, Appledore and Westward Ho!
Find out more via ACE Rail (Facebook) and Tarka Line friends and groups (Facebook) and follow / like / post.
Register your support for this award-winning campaign, affiliated to Railfuture - to become a part of Devon Metro?
See also the Railfuture-affiliated North Devon Line - Rail Promotion Group (formerly the Tarka Rail Association).
For recent (early-2020) views of the existing North Devon (Tarka) Line watch Driver's Eye View of the journey from Barnstaple to Exeter St Davids Barnstaple - Eggesford. Part 1 of 2 (23 minutes) and Eggesford - Exeter St Davids. Part 2 of 2 (33 minutes).
For more recent - post-Dartmoor Line re-opening - cab rides watch from Exeter St Davids (platform 3) to Okehampton, and from Okehampton to Exeter St Davids (bay platform 2).
The former route between Barnstaple and Bideford
Regular scheduled passenger services along the 9-mile railway between Barnstaple and Bideford closed on Saturday 2nd October 1965, and the station closed on Monday 4th October 1965 - when the population of Bideford was greater than the population of Barnstaple! Freight continued to run, principally clay traffic from Meeth until this was withdrawn in September 1982. While the tracks remained until 1985 attempts were made to reopen the line, as detailed in Bring Back the Trains - The Case for Railway Re-openings, first published by the Railway Development Society (changing its public name in 2000 to Railfuture) in February 1983, and in the April 1984 2nd edition. See Chapter VI pages 31-32 here.The track was finally lifted in 1985 and the land purchased by Devon County Council for use as a footpath and cycleway. The potential of this line was reiterated in the March 1988, May 1989 and March 1998 publication of the A - Z of Rail Re-openings also published by the Railway Development Society - see RDS books. Bideford-Barnstaple featured too as one of the 26 proposals in the 6-page pamphlet Bring Back our Tracks. Published by the Railway Development Society in June 1996, it can be viewed here. Despite the potential of this route for rail passengers, 22nd April 1987 marked the opening as part of the South West Coastal Path by the Rt. Honourable William Waldegrave, Environment Minister, and on 28th May 1992 the Tarka Trail was opened by the then H.R.H. Prince of Wales, now King Charles III.
By the 2021 Census the population of 'Greater Bideford' (Appledore, Bideford, East-the-Water, Northam, and Westward Ho!) was estimated to be over 30,000 having continued to grow by about 3,000 per decade since the trackbed was converted to become the Tarka Trail. A c.9-mile extension of the Exeter - Barnstaple railway to Bideford would add substantially to its effective catchment area. The journey time could be c.10-15 minutes from Barnstaple to Bideford. With some relatively modest Tarka Line line upgrading, a 70-minute journey time between Exeter Central and Bideford could be possible. Compared to the Barnstaple to Bideford bus link the rail service would then save around 45 to 55 minutes, although still be only marginally better than the journey-time by car.
Accordingly the case for restoring a rail service to Bideford has long-appeared to be strong. Way back in 1992 Railway Development Society volunteers conducted a site survey of the original route to determine whether the former line could be reopened, as just one of the options for re-establishing a mainline rail link between Barnstaple and Bideford for through services to and from Exeter.
Additional work has been done since that date, 30 years ago now, to check for changes. One of the problems identified has been the installation of a sewer pipeline beneath the track-bed between Yelland and Instow. Other challenges relate to the overlay of the well-used and much-loved Tarka Trail tourist initiative on to this closed section of what was the North Devon main line. Although the route was never built for double track it was originally broad gauge to the outskirts of Bideford, so potentially aiding the building of a new rail alignment alongside the Tarka Trail footpath and cyclepath. That however will neither be possible for Instow tunnel, nor desirable for the level crossing there (which Network Rail will probably resist anyway) and for Fremington Quay, all pointing to a section of completely new inland route - in a not dissimilar way from the new A39 carving a completely new inland route back in the '80s.
The station in Bideford remains as two distinct halves to either side of the Station Hill / Railway Terrace underbridge. The northern half has two remaining platforms opposite the Royal Hotel. South of the underbridge the Bideford Railway Heritage Centre CIC are restoring the remainder of the station as a museum with a short running line; the station building itself is owned by the Royal Hotel. Okehampton now offers an example of mainline and heritage operations co-existing on opposite tracks in the same station; examples elsewhere include Eridge in East Sussex and Matlock in Derbyshire. As Bideford covers an expanding area many potential rail users would doubtless wish to use their own vehicles to get to and from the railway; a new parkway station could be built by the new Torridge Bridge where the A39 has a junction with the B3233. This would serve the outer west side of Bideford along with Northam, Appledore and Westward Ho!
Coming up .....
- March 2025 - blockade of North Devon (Tarka) Line and Dartmoor Line for route improvements works, Saturday 8th - Friday 14th inclusive.