Could the Okehampton Line reopen to passengers?

[Gloster]

Feniton - Sidmouth I feel would have been the best one to have kept - and would have been a suitable end destination (I believe the buses around there are always pretty busy).

The problem with Sidmouth is that, even now, the station is on the edge of town and well above the centre. Buses go right down into the centre of town. (I hope I am not mixing it up with somewhere else: it is years since I have been there.)

 

[fairysdad]

And if they are able to be squeezed in beyond St. David's, up the hill to Exeter Central, which is much closer -as the name implies- to the city centre.

Yes, that helps. Perhaps tie them up woth another service as a cross-Exeter.

The trouble is that there are already several services vying to go up the bank to Central: along the coast from Newton Abbot/Paignton and even Plymouth, from Barnstaple and a proposed one from Taunton. Beyond Central there are just the Exmouths and a limited number of trains along the mainline.

Crayon time: could they be joined/split at Crediton with the Barnstaple trains? While pathing between Crediton and Cowley Bridge Jcn is probably alright to put Okehampton trains, it's possible that from Cowley Bridge Jcn to Exeter St Davids has the potential to be pretty full as well as the hill to Central. Of course, this would depend on suitable facilities at Crediton, but I believe the platforms there would be long enough for it. (Historically of course the split was at Yeoford (then Yeoford Junction) with coaches bound for Barnstaple taken off the LSWR Plymouth services.)

The service pattern for the Barnstaple trains is (or, at least was a couple years back) that they formed the Exmouth service along with the Paignton trains, so this would also have the merit of giving Okehampton trains through to Exmouth as well.

I'll put my colouring set away now

 

[Cowley]

The problem with Sidmouth is that, even now, the station is on the edge of town and well above the centre. Buses go right down into the centre of town. (I hope I am not mixing it up with somewhere else: it is years since I have been there.)

That’s correct yes. A similar situation to Okehampton in a way.

 

[fgwrich]

The problem with Sidmouth is that, even now, the station is on the edge of town and well above the centre. Buses go right down into the centre of town. (I hope I am not mixing it up with somewhere else: it is years since I have been there.)

That is true, it wasn't too far out of the town (3/4 of a mile) but as you say the buses do go into the town whereas the station was on the edge.

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[Irascible]

Pity we can't send them to Seaton or Lyme Regis !

Well, you could bung the tramway some cash & have 'em finally reach Seaton Jct... there's lots of that station left under the greenery for an interchange!

The WoE line manages to make itself fantastically awkward for so much of the population in that part of Devon.

 

[yorksrob]

Well, you could bung the tramway some cash & have 'em finally reach Seaton Jct... there's lots of that station left under the greenery for an interchange!

The WoE line manages to make itself fantastically awkward for so much of the population in that part of Devon.

Yes, that could be a handy idea !

 

[Class 170101]

Well, you could bung the tramway some cash & have 'em finally reach Seaton Jct... there's lots of that station left under the greenery for an interchange!

The WoE line manages to make itself fantastically awkward for so much of the population in that part of Devon.

If people want the train to go to Exeter Central maybe extending the Waterloo trains to Okehampton would be better?

 

[Gloster]

If people want the train to go to Exeter Central maybe extending the Waterloo trains to Okehampton would be better?

It could be done, but... Even if you ignore the various practical and reliability problems, I can’t see FGW being happy about SWR moving into their fiefdom. Nor is it likely that SWR would be happy about providing the trains for another company’s service.

 

[Parallel]

Really the Okehampton trains probably need to run through to Axminster though I’m not sure that’s possible with the current passing places.

If they’re going to run services to Okehampton, surely it’s worth serving Sampford Courtenay too as it’s already there. I wonder if there are any long term plans to re-open the second platform in Yeoford and/or the closed stations at Bow and North Tawton. There is at least some platform left at Bow though I’m not sure what condition it’s in. I guess it won’t happen with the current financial situation though.

 

[DelW]

It could be done, but... Even if you ignore the various practical and reliability problems, I can’t see FGW being happy about SWR moving into their fiefdom. Nor is it likely that SWR would be happy about providing the trains for another company’s service.

Though of course, historically Okehampton was the South Western's then Southern's fiefdom ... though a long time ago now

 

[Amlag]

The idea is, if final authorization is given by the DfT. to use the existing infrastructure to the max because if you need to provide any more infrastructure or significantly upgrade it, that would need a lot more money to be authorized. It would also put the scheme in doubt and push it back a fair few years.

The current infrastructure limits you to an effective maximum of 8 trains a day with a journey time of between 42 and 45 minutes each way (assuming the Sampford stop is made), and that journey time variance largely depends on what else is about in the Exeter area.

8 TPD is one diagram and pushing it further than Exeter St Davids is problematic - there is too much else around between Central and St Davids at the projected presentation times and it is better, if the 8 TPD is still to be run, to connect in and out at Exeter St Davids. It also means you can keep it to one diagram, which would be exceeded if you could push the service further. Two units would be too expensive.

If the scheme is a roaring success, then it could attract further investment and enhancement. GWR is rather good at getting funds for improvement works or service enhancements.

Thank you Clarence Yard for your update, which all makes sense.

What would you rate the chances of a suitably competent organisation running a Heritage/Tourist service ( as done for many years ) between Okehampton and Meldon Viaduct Stn, assuming the line becomes part of Network Rail ?

 

[Irascible]

If people want the train to go to Exeter Central maybe extending the Waterloo trains to Okehampton would be better?

As others ( and even me, possibly ) have said - turning the Oke trains around at Axminster might make a bit more sense ( which is at least set up for it ) - but I'm hazarding a guess that it'd need a bit more redoubling first. That could maybe let SWR run non-stop from Honiton too if someone can make it all fit.

Bigger problem is a fairly large percentage of the population are on the coast, and the line isn't. Some of the towns along the coast road are not the most pleasant thanks to the traffic.

 

[Gloster]

As others ( and even me, possibly ) have said - turning the Oke trains around at Axminster might make a bit more sense ( which is at least set up for it ) - but I'm hazarding a guess that it'd need a bit more redoubling first. That could maybe let SWR run non-stop from Honiton too if someone can make it all fit.

As things stand, you could just about fit three trains an hour over the Pinhoe-Honiton section, but there would be very little margin for error. Four might be possible if you had a pair in one direction followed by a pair in the other direction (if I am right in thinking that there are intermediate signals in the Feniton area), but then you would be stuck with long waits at Honiton because of the single-line thence to Axminster. Terminating the Up stoppers at Honiton might work, but would leave virtually no allowance for delays or other problems.

 

[fgwrich]

As others ( and even me, possibly ) have said - turning the Oke trains around at Axminster might make a bit more sense ( which is at least set up for it ) - but I'm hazarding a guess that it'd need a bit more redoubling first. That could maybe let SWR run non-stop from Honiton too if someone can make it all fit.

Bigger problem is a fairly large percentage of the population are on the coast, and the line isn't. Some of the towns along the coast road are not the most pleasant thanks to the traffic.

I believe the long held ambition is to send the Barnstaple services down to Honition / Axminster, but this is dependant on the track improvements - Some of which will be delivered by the West of England line improvements (And hopefully allow SWR to speed up the Yeovil - Exeter end).