Regular trains restored to Dartmoor Line for first time in 50 yrs

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will today dispatch the first passenger train to run on the Dartmoor Line for over 50 years, as the line once again becomes part of the UK rail network for passengers.

The project is part of the £40 million of government investment launched via the ‘Restoring your Railway’ programme.

The line links Okehampton to Exeter and will officially reopen to the public for regular year-round, all-week passenger services on 20 November.

The first train runs this Wednesday, travelling from Okehampton, and will carry local schoolchildren, campaigners, railway staff and supporters who all helped make the project happen.

The Department for Transport (DfT), Network Rail and Great Western Railway (GWR) have worked together to reopen this line ahead of time and under budget. Benefitting from the application of Rail Project SPEED approaches, the Dartmoor Line has been transformed from a mothballed former freight railway with occasional summer Sunday services to a full 7 days a week passenger operation in a mere 9 months since confirmation of funding, coming in more than £10 million under budget.

A service will run every 2 hours, with plans to expand to an hourly service in 2022. This will benefit students heading to colleges in Exeter as well as tourists travelling towards Dartmoor, easing congestion on local roads and helping boost local economies.

Since 1997, the line has only been open on some Sundays in summer after regular services were withdrawn in 1972.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Improving transport links is essential to levelling up and spreading opportunity across the country, which is why we are driving forward our pledge to reverse the Beeching cuts in Devon today.

“As we reopen the Dartmoor Line, we are rightly reconnecting communities, giving passengers the chance to choose rail over the road and travel from Exeter to Okehampton on greener, cleaner modes of transport.”