Regular trains start running on Dartmoor Line for first time in 50 years
The line links Okehampton to Exeter and officially reopens to the public on Saturday 20th November
Passenger trains are now running on the famous Dartmoor Line for the first time in over 50 years.
The first special service was dispatched by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on Wednesday and now regular services are resuming from Saturday 20th November.
The route links Okehampton to Exeter and has been made possible thanks to over £40m of government investment through the Restoring Your Railway programme.
The first train to travel from Okehampton carried local school children, campaigners, railway staff, and supporters who all helped make the project happen.
Now the service will run every two hours and there are plans to expand to an hourly service in 2022.
It is hoped people from Bude and other parts of North Cornwall will also benefit from having a new line nearer to them.
Since 1997, the line has only been open during some Sundays in Summer after regular services were withdrawn in 1972.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: "By restoring the Dartmoor Line we are undoing 50 years of damage, reconnecting a community and creating new opportunities for jobs, tourism, education and recreation.
"We have made it our mission to reverse cuts made in the Beeching era of the 1960s. The passion, nostalgia and enthusiasm for that ambition is clear right across the country.
"People love their railways, and rightly miss them when they’re gone. Today – ahead of time, and under budget – we’ve made a decisive step in fixing that, cutting the ribbon on a line and making a real difference to people’s lives".
The work has been completed in nine months, with Network Rail's team laying 11 miles of new track, installing 24,000 concrete sleepers and 29,000 tonnes of ballast.
Repairs have also been made to 21 structures along the route including 4 bridges.
Other infrastructure work has included level crossing improvements and the installation of railway communications equipment.
Vegetation clearance, earth and drainage works and fencing have also been completed and further infrastructure work will continue to take place to increase the line speed to enable an hourly service in 2022.
The Restoring Your Railway fund was launched in January 2020 to reinstate axed local services and restore closed stations, many of which were cut following Dr Beeching’s report on ‘The Reshaping of British Railways’ in 1963.
More work will be carried out on the Dartmoor Line over the winter, including on the station buildings to enable the restoration of the café and other facilities.
The full timetable and information for the Dartmoor Line can be found on the Great Western Railway website.