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Should be run by GWR really, or by someone else under contract to them and/or Devon or Cornwall CC and be properly integrated.
More seriously I'm not sure if it would be profitable this time of year, but it might be in the summer given how popular that part of North Cornwall is. (I assume it's as popular now as it was in the 90s).
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I can understand the reluctance to do this until about 10 years ago, simply because of ticketing arrangements. You can imagine Mrs mugging getting on the number 26 bus in Little Whinging (Somerset) and asking for an off peak return to Keswick, with Senior Railcard, and could she reserve a seat on the Birmingham to Penrith stage, and have a first class upgrade on the return please.
Yet few seem to have have taken advantage yet, given the general rise of internet ticketing. You are right though that the delay in buying complex tickets from the driver is the achillies heel. To a certain extent if you are buying a rail ticket online the reduction in hassle in getting a through bus ticket is attenuated by buying a bus ticket comprising only having to plop your mobile on a touchpad on the bus.
I think a bigger issue is connections. We all remember waiting at bus stops for anything up to an hour wondering where the bus is. Technology here is a complete game changer. On all three routes from Okehampton to Bude, Launceston and Tavistock the bus can be tracked live from a phone removing the uncertainty. It also enables you to track your journey live on the bus and know if you are on time or late. Finally, it, if chosen to be done, allows the rail operator to know if the connecting bus is hopelessly late or just a little so a decision on a brief holding of the service can be made.
As to Tavistock the flaws with an express bus have been stated. I would add to that that the A386 is congested and the bus would be express in the same way that non stop peak services from East Croydon to Elephant and castle were "Express" with all the grinding around south london junctions at 15mph making a preserved railway service seem fast.
I suspect the Tavistock to Okehampton Station bus service is far more use.
The missing link in Okehampton is through London services. Here something radical is needed. Reversal at Exeter would need an extra hourly service. Waterloo would need infrastructure but still be slow east of Salisbury even if a path could be found.
It is clear from recent events that through running from London to Exeter is getting more difficult Crossrail has changed Paddington overnight from being a grossly inferior destination to Waterloo in the west London suburbs with mediocre tube connection to 10 minutes to most of central London.
So.
1) Terminate all waterloo trains at Yeovil Junction.
2) Increase the semifast Paddington to Exeter/Paignton service that calls at Newbury, Pewsey Westbury, and Castle Cary from two hourly to hourly and run it to Exeter via Yeovil (both) calling at Crewkerne, Axminster, Honiton and Cranbook (and calling at Frome and Bruton) with every other train going onto Okehampton or Barnstaple or Paignton or in the peaks the train dividing and joining and going to/from two of said destinations.
3) This would need the planned upgrades from Castle Cary to Exeter via Yeovil (Cranbrook loop etc) to provide resilience and for the planned Exeter to Axminster stopping service. It would also need an upgrade at Yeovil Junction so that the down island platform was brought back into use. Paddington to Exeter services would use the inner faces. Waterloo trains would terminate on the down outer face then shunt across to the up island outer face for departure, giving seamless connection.
4) Installation of the south curve and diversion of Weymouth services via Yeovil Junction and divert the Weymouth service to reverse at Castle Cary and run to Taunton calling at the new Langport/Somerton station.
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Perhaps, but it looks a considerably more direct route with significantly less overall mileage (no huge dogleg west and south via Plymouth) so perhaps the environmental disbenefits of more of the journey being done by car are less clear cut. I have visited this area (in the 90s) and Camelford to Bodmin is itself some distance, albeit not as far as Okehampton.
Anyhow, who's for an Okehampton-Padstow fast bus, calling at the towns only and routed this way?
510 Bus Exeter - Newquay: The 510 Western Greyhound bus runs from Exeter Bus Station via Okehampton and Camelford to Launceston and Newquay in Cornwall.
7% by train is a large amount compared to other locations. I’m sure fewer than 7% of tourists arrive in the Cotswolds or Snowdonia by train, for example.
A bit tricky to find figures, I found 11% for the Lake District in 2014... I would suggest that people are more likely to use the train for day trips/shorter stays, so places within a couple of hours of big cities will have a higher percentage arriving by train. Obviously depending on how well served the place is
Yet few seem to have have taken advantage yet, given the general rise of internet ticketing. You are right though that the delay in buying complex tickets from the driver is the achillies heel. To a certain extent if you are buying a rail ticket online the reduction in hassle in getting a through bus ticket is attenuated by buying a bus ticket comprising only having to plop your mobile on a touchpad on the bus.
I think a bigger issue is connections. We all remember waiting at bus stops for anything up to an hour wondering where the bus is. Technology here is a complete game changer. On all three routes from Okehampton to Bude, Launceston and Tavistock the bus can be tracked live from a phone removing the uncertainty. It also enables you to track your journey live on the bus and know if you are on time or late. Finally, it, if chosen to be done, allows the rail operator to know if the connecting bus is hopelessly late or just a little so a decision on a brief holding of the service can be made.
As to Tavistock the flaws with an express bus have been stated. I would add to that that the A386 is congested and the bus would be express in the same way that non stop peak services from East Croydon to Elephant and castle were "Express" with all the grinding around south london junctions at 15mph making a preserved railway service seem fast.
I suspect the Tavistock to Okehampton Station bus service is far more use.
The missing link in Okehampton is through London services. Here something radical is needed. Reversal at Exeter would need an extra hourly service. Waterloo would need infrastructure but still be slow east of Salisbury even if a path could be found.
It is clear from recent events that through running from London to Exeter is getting more difficult Crossrail has changed Paddington overnight from being a grossly inferior destination to Waterloo in the west London suburbs with mediocre tube connection to 10 minutes to most of central London.
So.
1) Terminate all waterloo trains at Yeovil Junction.
2) Increase the semifast Paddington to Exeter/Paignton service that calls at Newbury, Pewsey Westbury, and Castle Cary from two hourly to hourly and run it to Exeter via Yeovil (both) calling at Crewkerne, Axminster, Honiton and Cranbook (and calling at Frome and Bruton) with every other train going onto Okehampton or Barnstaple or Paignton or in the peaks the train dividing and joining and going to/from two of said destinations.
3) This would need the planned upgrades from Castle Cary to Exeter via Yeovil (Cranbrook loop etc) to provide resilience and for the planned Exeter to Axminster stopping service. It would also need an upgrade at Yeovil Junction so that the down island platform was brought back into use. Paddington to Exeter services would use the inner faces. Waterloo trains would terminate on the down outer face then shunt across to the up island outer face for departure, giving seamless connection.
4) Installation of the south curve and diversion of Weymouth services via Yeovil Junction and divert the Weymouth service to reverse at Castle Cary and run to Taunton calling at the new Langport/Somerton station.
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There was one until the company running it went bust (albeit to Wadebridge not Padstow).
510 Bus Exeter - Newquay: The 510 Western Greyhound bus runs from Exeter Bus Station via Okehampton and Camelford to Launceston and Newquay in Cornwall.
I have previously suggested something similar (at least the terminating if the Waterloo services at Yeovil) as a way to introduce (with some limited extra electrification) a battery train.
A cross platform interchange from DMU services (which I had running Exeter to Salisbury via Yeovil and Westbury 0.5tph and a through service to Waterloo at a rate of 0.5tph).
As such the suggestion you made would also work.
It would also allow, as I suggested, a battery train could be created for SWR. This could also allow SWR to run more frequent services to Weymouth by using the battery trains.
Since Great Western Railway (GWR) increased services to hourly in May this year, passenger use has continued to rise, with more than 500 journeys starting at Okehampton every day.
www.devonlive.com
"In the same week as it celebrated its one-year anniversary, the Dartmoor Line also saw its 250,000th journey, showing an incredible patronage on the line – more than double the demand originally forecast. Since Great Western Railway (GWR) increased services to hourly in May this year, passenger use has continued to rise, with more than 500 journeys starting at Okehampton every day."
It's a shame they didn't upgrade the line speed of Crediton-Penstone on the Dartmoor line beyond 40mph: the parallel Tarka line allows 70mph for MUs, and even if it only saves a couple of minutes each way, given the long single section to/from Okehampton that could make a big difference in resilience.
It's a shame they didn't upgrade the line speed of Crediton-Penstone on the Dartmoor line beyond 40mph: the parallel Tarka line allows 70mph for MUs, and even if it only saves a couple of minutes each way, given the long single section to/from Okehampton that could make a big difference in resilience.
Mothballed Meldon Quarry could be a large P&R site as it's close to the A30 with trains potentially doing an extra short trip back to Okehampton to make up the frequency, the line should be upgraded right through to the (current) end.
Mothballed Meldon Quarry could be a large P&R site as it's close to the A30 with trains potentially doing an extra short trip back to Okehampton to make up the frequency, the line should be upgraded right through to the (current) end.
You'd need a very substantial upgrade to allow Crediton-Meldon and back within the hour. Reinstating Coleford Jn for a start, but it would take more than that.
The line has made BBC news due to its passenger numbers
Goes on to say it's success is causing problems due to lack of capacity currently
The Tarka rail line has broken all of its passenger records by seeing more than 800,000 journeys in one year.
The North Devon train line, operated by Great Western Railway (GWR), goes from Exeter to Barnstaple.
However, the Tarka Rail Association (TRA) said the hourly service was now reaching passenger capacity and had become "a victim of its own success".
GWR said it would continue to look at short-term solutions while lobbying for longer-term improvements.
'Highest passenger growth'
The TRA, set up in 1977, is one of the oldest rail user groups in the UK.
It was originally formed to save the line from being another victim of railway closures, but said it was now facing the new challenge of coping with the sheer number of passengers.
Tim Steer, joint vice-chair of the association, said the line was reaching capacity on key college and leisure services.
Most recent official figures on the line for 2022/23 showed 844,000 journeys had been made.
Mr Steer said the record-breaking figures meant the line was showing the highest percentage in passenger growth in south-west England.
Campaigning for modernisation
However, Mr Steer said the trains were not big enough or regular enough to cope.
He said: "At peak times, we are seeing three-carriage GWR trains leaving Barnstaple full and standing, and this is making challenges for communities along the line who are finding there is no capacity for them to get on board."
The TRA said it was campaigning for modernisation to the existing infrastructure, for more carriages to be added to the trains, to have two services per hour and for the trains to be faster.
A spokesperson for GWR said: "We share the Tarka Line Association's aspiration for improvement, and are only too aware of the challenges faced on the busiest trains on the line.
"Unfortunately, we cannot run more trains without significant and costly improvements to the infrastructure; and we cannot run longer trains without either extensive modifications to platform lengths, or to the trains themselves."
GWR was always wary of reopening this line because it could not cope with the latent demand. It's hand was forced and now has to deal with the extra passengers just as it is having to do on the Barnstaple Line. If those two branches had a half hour service the passengers would further increase especially as Exeter with all it's stations is car unfriendly and is the major job creation point.
Teignmouth, Dawlish, Torbay (3 soon to be 4 stations) all increased passengers with the half hour service to Exeter becoming commuter towns. Newquay is another area with latent demand to Truro and Plymouth.
Perhaps the least expensive thing in the first instance would be to make Yeoford Jct to Crediton conventional double track and open up the other platform at Barnstaple.
Perhaps the least expensive thing in the first instance would be to make Yeoford Jct to Crediton conventional double track and open up the other platform at Barnstaple.
A second platform at Barnstaple isn't going to be any use unless they put in a second loop between Eggesford and Barnstaple, it's usually only a 5 minute turnaround.
That line has been full & standing at peak times for years, that's hardly news if there was stock for extra trains then just lengthening the existing ones would be a start, but there apparently never is. Unless you want to run the HSTs up there
There used to regularily be 5 + locomotive running to Barnstaple when I was a young'un going up there, have they cut back in the years between? admittedly I can't remember how long the intermediate platforms are.
There used to regularily be 5 + locomotive running to Barnstaple when I was a young'un going up there, have they cut back in the years between? admittedly I can't remember how long the intermediate platforms are.
It's about capacity, with only one passing loop at Eggesford you can't increase frequency, you can get a 3 car unit in every platform (except Newton St Cyers) and a 4 car except St Cyres, Portsmouth Arms and one other I forget and one platform (which escapes me) is really really tight with a 4 car.
It's a shame they didn't upgrade the line speed of Crediton-Penstone on the Dartmoor line beyond 40mph: the parallel Tarka line allows 70mph for MUs, and even if it only saves a couple of minutes each way, given the long single section to/from Okehampton that could make a big difference in resilience.
I noticed that when I rode the branch for the first time recently - you go from 70 to Crediton, 40 to Yeoford / Penstone on a fairly lengthy stretch of jointed track, then back up to 70 for the stretch up to Okehampton.
Perhaps the least expensive thing in the first instance would be to make Yeoford Jct to Crediton conventional double track and open up the other platform at Barnstaple.
It oddly frustrates me that such a fix wasn't done during Project speed - considering the crossover is currently located outside Crediton, would it have involved that much more work moving it to outside Yeoford?
That line has been full & standing at peak times for years, that's hardly news if there was stock for extra trains then just lengthening the existing ones would be a start, but there apparently never is. Unless you want to run the HSTs up there
Indeed - a consequence of FGW's excellent timetable increases across D&C a few years back which gave a lot of the branches a far more standardised, regular service.
Buggered though. And with the DfT in charge, who's going to pay for the substantial corrosion repairs they require. I'm surprised the Brodies unit didn't get snapped up by First Group though - they usually like to buy oddball things like this to lease to themselves (or add as franchise assets).
To be honest though, the Devon Metro is fast in danger of becoming a victim of its own success. Exmouth is also one of the busiest in Devon and regular suffers congestion at both the Exeter and Topsham ends - perhaps doubling Polsloe Bridge to Topsham would help that, Barnstaple needs further loops to make more services work, Pinhole - Honition needs at least 1 loop if not double tracking throughout to make the Devon Metro work on that side, and Paignton is about to pick up another station. And that's before we add in Wellington and Cully on the mainline too, all requiring additional investment and rolling stock.
To be honest though, the Devon Metro is fast in danger of becoming a victim of its own success. Exmouth is also one of the busiest in Devon and regular suffers congestion at both the Exeter and Topsham ends - perhaps doubling Polsloe Bridge to Topsham would help that, Barnstaple needs further loops to make more services work, Pinhole - Honition needs at least 1 loop if not double tracking throughout to make the Devon Metro work on that side, and Paignton is about to pick up another station. And that's before we add in Wellington and Cully on the mainline too, all requiring additional investment and rolling stock.
Doesn't help that there's been near impossible new housing targets set in East/Mid Devon ( councils are now in a state of rebellion because there's just nowhere to build more without reducing farming but the targets keep going up because of their success ) without any extra provision for transport ( or schools, or doctors, or dentists - that one is a disaster, or sewage - at least we apparently have an electricity surplus ). I think MarkyT & I discussed turning round Barnstaples at somewhere near Digby but that'd probably need bi-di both ways up the Central hill & out to jct, which is into Exeter resignalling areas. There needs to be a cohesive plan rather than saying "run more trains to Barnstaple", where are they going at the other end? it'd be easier to lengthen platforms & trains in the immediate term, I think.
One issue with returning Crediton to Coleford Jcn. to conventional double track would be the need to reinstate the second platform at Yeoford (and all the modern access requirements that entails). You could make the junction just to the east of Yeoford station, but Okehampton trains would still be unable to call. I think any movement on this will depend on replacement of Exeter PSB (and Crediton SB) which seems unlikely in the current climate. A decision about Exeter can't be put off for ever, however, for although newer than the venerable Plymouth PSB its wiring is in a fragile state. One way to improve capacity at Exeter Central would be to reinstate the centre roads with scissor crossovers midway, to allow two trains on the sane (long) platform.
GWR was always wary of reopening this line because it could not cope with the latent demand. Its hand was forced and now has to deal with the extra passengers just as it is having to do on the Barnstaple Line.
Exeter PB will be taking over a lot of Cornwall in the new year. Yeoford needs it's platform reinstated because of the housing potential and the roads there are diabolical.
if there was stock for extra trains then just lengthening the existing ones would be a start, but there apparently never is. Unless you want to run the HSTs up there 
