Restoring Your Railway Fund: Dartmoor Line services to double from 15 May

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Services on the popular Dartmoor Line will be doubled from 15 May, giving passengers travelling between Exeter and Okehampton the option to travel more frequently with hourly trains.

The line reopened last November, restoring a regular, year-round service for the first time in almost 50 years and is part of the Government’s £500 million manifesto commitment to ‘Restore Your Railways.’

With more frequent services between Okehampton and Exeter, the upgraded Dartmoor Line offers new links for work, study, and leisure travel. It will benefit students heading to the colleges in Exeter as well as tourists travelling to Dartmoor, easing congestion on local roads, and helping boost the local economy.

The line was the first to reopen under the flagship programme and was fully restored in just nine months. It was delivered £10 million under budget, transforming a mothballed former freight railway to regular passenger services.

The restored line has been hugely popular, with more than 50,000 journeys undertaken in the first 20 weeks since the line reopened, more than double the number predicted. Passenger numbers at Crediton have also increased by 39% against pre-pandemic levels.

Rail Minister Wendy Morton said:

“After speaking with regular users of the service, it’s clear how central it already is to the community, residents and businesses.

“By not only restoring this great railway but doubling the number of daily services, it will bring even greater benefits to local people for generations to come.”

The Department for Transport, Network Rail and Great Western Railway (GWR), alongside project partners Devon County Council, Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership and Dartmoor Railway Association (DRA), 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 into a successful, full seven days a week passenger operation.

To make the restoration possible, Network Rail’s team of engineers worked tirelessly to deliver a huge programme of work to physically reopen the line in just nine months, including laying 11 miles of new track and installing 24,000 concrete sleepers and 29,000 tonnes of ballast in a record-breaking 20-day period.

Michelle Handforth, Network Rail’s Wales & Western regional managing director, said:

“I’m delighted our recent upgrades have enabled the Dartmoor Line services to increase to hourly which will undoubtedly bring a further boost to tourism, the local community and regional economy for many years to come.

“This Sunday will mark another momentous milestone in the history of the Dartmoor Line as we celebrate the return of the first hourly services in nearly 50 years and I am extremely proud that we have delivered on this promise we made to the Government.”

Image credit: Network Rail

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