Dartmoor Line

A Devon branch line that came back to life in 2021, running from Okehampton on the edge of Dartmoor down through farmland and river valleys to Exeter.

The route

The Dartmoor Line links Exeter with the market town of Okehampton on the northern edge of Dartmoor. Trains share the Tarka Line out of Exeter as far as Coleford Junction, north-west of Crediton, then branch west on their own track. The line reached Okehampton in 1871 and was once part of a through route to Plymouth, but that link was cut in 1968 and regular passenger trains to Okehampton stopped in 1972.

For almost fifty years the track survived mainly for stone traffic from Meldon Quarry and, from 1997 to 2019, as a heritage railway. In 2021 it became the first scheme of the government's Restoring Your Railway programme. Network Rail took over the line, laid more than 18 km of new track, and regular trains returned on 20 November 2021. Use was far higher than expected, with around 250,000 journeys in the first year.

Today the line is a working local railway again. It gives people in west Devon a train to Exeter for work, college and shopping, and gives walkers and cyclists an easy way onto the moor. Beyond Okehampton the old trackbed towards Lydford has become the Granite Way, a path for walking and cycling.

What you will see

The film starts at Okehampton, the restored terminus on the northern edge of the moor. As the train sets off east, the open high ground of Dartmoor falls away behind and the line drops into rolling mid-Devon farmland of small fields, thick hedges and scattered woods.

The first platform you pass is Sampford Courtenay, opened in 1867 as Okehampton Road and now unused. Further on, the train runs through North Tawton and Bow, whose stations closed to passengers when the line did and have not reopened. At Coleford Junction the single track from Okehampton joins the Tarka Line coming down from Barnstaple, and from here the train follows the valley of the River Yeo.

Crediton, the junction town where the Tarka Line trains also call, is the only intermediate stop still served. After it the valley opens out towards the River Exe, the fields give way to the edges of Exeter, and the journey ends at Exeter St Davids, the city's main station on the line to London and the West Country.

Riding it for real

Great Western Railway runs the service, which has been roughly hourly between Exeter St Davids and Okehampton since May 2022. Trains call at Crediton on the way, and the ride takes about 40 minutes. Seats are not reserved on these local trains, so you simply buy a ticket and board. National rail passes such as the BritRail pass are valid.

Many visitors combine the train with a walk on the moor or a ride along the Granite Way from Okehampton. Timetables can change, especially on Sundays and during engineering work, so check the latest times and fares with Great Western Railway or National Rail before you travel.

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