Tarka line vs Devon & Somerset railway when deciding on closures

[Taunton]

Barnstaple Town, and indeed the line on to Ilfracombe, was really lost by the decay of the viaduct over the estuary, which looked even more spindly than those viaducts on the Taunton line. Barnstaple station today is not even in Barnstaple, anyone from North Devon will tell you it's in Sticklepath.

For Bideford, the station looks no further a walk to the town centre than Maidstone East is from the centre of Maidstone.

The trouble with that is that as you set off across the windswept bridge over the river you are likely to have coming up behind you one of the frequent buses running to the centre of Barnstaple.

 

[35B]

Realistically no station is going to be perfectly sited for every one in any reasonably spread out town. Town, together with Junction would have given reasonable access for both motorists and pedestrians.

The current situation, with just a stub, not really reaching into the urban areas is extremely sub-optimal, compared to having the route continue through to Ilfracombe and Bideford, however you try and present it.

Bideford, as mentioned previously, some sort of parkway would have been useful eventually.

No station will be perfect, I agree. But for the places we’re discussing, it’s the originating traffic that will matter - and therefore any evaluation needs honest consideration of what that means. The A39 is a decent road from Bideford towards Barnstaple, and if I lived in or around Bideford, I’d be much more likely to railhead than try to use a poorly accessible station.

The pity is that the Ilfracombe station site was so poor - a failing that goes back to 1874. Of the services that could provide value to the community, something that would relieve the A361 through Braunton would be highly best. But with a station high above and on the edge of town, now a factory providing jobs somewhere very poor and with real unemployment problems, the economic case is difficult - and the engineering at the foot of the 1:36 wholly impractical.

 

[yorksrob]

Barnstaple Town, and indeed the line on to Ilfracombe, was really lost by the decay of the viaduct over the estuary, which looked even more spindly than those viaducts on the Taunton line. Barnstaple station today is not even in Barnstaple, anyone from North Devon will tell you it's in Sticklepath.

The trouble with that is that as you set off across the windswept bridge over the river you are likely to have coming up behind you one of the frequent buses running to the centre of Barnstaple.

That would have been the one worth reinforcing.

Does the bridge not have a pavement ?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Feb 2026 ==

No station will be perfect, I agree. But for the places we’re discussing, it’s the originating traffic that will matter - and therefore any evaluation needs honest consideration of what that means. The A39 is a decent road from Bideford towards Barnstaple, and if I lived in or around Bideford, I’d be much more likely to railhead than try to use a poorly accessible station.

The pity is that the Ilfracombe station site was so poor - a failing that goes back to 1874. Of the services that could provide value to the community, something that would relieve the A361 through Braunton would be highly best. But with a station high above and on the edge of town, now a factory providing jobs somewhere very poor and with real unemployment problems, the economic case is difficult - and the engineering at the foot of the 1:36 wholly impractical.

Railheading is all well and good, but it assumes everyone drives, but of course they don't.

I note that stations such as Margate and Plymouth are a bit of a trk from the centre of town, yet they still serve it.

 

[35B]

That would have been the one worth reinforcing.

Does the bridge not have a pavement ?

The Long Bridges at both Barnstaple and Bideford have pavements. The buses are really rather relevant to the practicalities of travel.

I note that stations such as Margate and Plymouth are a bit of a trk from the centre of town, yet they still serve it.

Indeed. But they're larger towns, and your not trying to resurrect the lines to them. They are also primarily destinations, not starting points - which changes the logic for how people will make their journeys.

Railheading is all well and good, but it assumes everyone drives, but of course they don't.

Agreed, and it's a consideration. But the answer on a reopening is not what you or I would do, but how the public at large would respond. And at that point, a service from a not great starting point to a not great finishing point, when there are good alternative options, is on a sticky wicket.

The brutal reality is that all of these lines are minor branches through nowhere much to not especially large towns. The demand pattern is now focused on travel from Barnstaple into Exeter, and the value of reopening would depend on how much extra traffic these would earn - especially in the off-season.

As others have pointed out, the D&S was slow and not well aligned to core demand from the Barnstaple area; traffic is now firmly centred on travel to Exeter and local distribution is well catered for by buses where people don't drive.

 

[yorksrob]

The Long Bridges at both Barnstaple and Bideford have pavements. The buses are really rather relevant to the practicalities of travel.

Indeed. But they're larger towns, and your not trying to resurrect the lines to them. They are also primarily destinations, not starting points - which changes the logic for how people will make their journeys.

Agreed, and it's a consideration. But the answer on a reopening is not what you or I would do, but how the public at large would respond. And at that point, a service from a not great starting point to a not great finishing point, when there are good alternative options, is on a sticky wicket.

The brutal reality is that all of these lines are minor branches through nowhere much to not especially large towns. The demand pattern is now focused on travel from Barnstaple into Exeter, and the value of reopening would depend on how much extra traffic these would earn - especially in the off-season.

As others have pointed out, the D&S was slow and not well aligned to core demand from the Barnstaple area; traffic is now firmly centred on travel to Exeter and local distribution is well catered for by buses where people don't drive.

As part of this thread I said I would have kept Barnstaple, Ilfracombe and Minehead over Taunton - Barnstaple.

I don't believe I mentioned reopening (though obviously I'd love to see it).

 

[35B]

As part of this thread I said I would have kept Barnstaple, Ilfracombe and Minehead over Taunton - Barnstaple.

I don't believe I mentioned reopening (though obviously I'd love to see it).

Fair comment - as would this ancestral Barumite like to see all of these reopened.

 

[yorksrob]

Fair comment - as would this ancestral Barumite like to see all of these reopened.

Agreed !

I'm sure there'll be a reopening thread along soon enough !

 

[Pigeon]

The pity is that the Ilfracombe station site was so poor - a failing that goes back to 1874.

Hard to see how they could have done significantly better without something daft like a tunnel most of the way from Barnstaple, though.

 

[35B]

Hard to see how they could have done significantly better without something daft like a tunnel most of the way from Barnstaple, though.

That is also true.

 

[DelW]

Dulverton - junction for the Exe Valley - was pretty hopeless too, and very remote from the 'town'. There was a large railway hotel which has since been converted to apartments. Morebath Junction Halt (opened 1928) was far more convenient for the said settlement than, er, Morebath Station!

Another GWR classic was the optimistically named "Bishop's Nympton and Molland" station, which was nowhere near either village, nor much else. Molland is about two miles away in one direction, and Bishop's Nympton is nearly three miles away in the other. It's hardly surprising that not much traffic developed, and what there was would have migrated to the roads well before the line was closed.