The Dartmoor Line has recently re-opened between Okehampton, Crediton, and Exeter St Davids, with some services continuing to Exeter Central.
Now that regular services have returned to the line, the station building at Okehampton is being upgraded in readiness for the summer 2022 season.
It was the station building that played a role in bringing together the local community, which is why it is being transformed into an asset that will benefit both local and tourist groups.
The revamped station will feature:
- a station café;
- toilets (managed by the café);
- Dartmoor National Park visitors centre;
- Dartmoor Railway Association shop;
- heritage-style waiting room.
Although a toilet was available for the opening weekend, it will be closed whilst the works take place. However, all trains to Okehampton have a fully accessible toilet that can be used at the station or on the move. Alternatively, for those who are unable to use toilets on board the train, there are public toilets in Okehampton town centre, at the bottom of Station Road.
Station facilities at Okehampton already include new information screens, a Help Point, smartcard validation points, ticket vending machines, and a waiting room.
The Dartmoor Line was restored from a mothballed former freight line into a passenger railway running regular services. Thanks to over £40 million of Government investment through its Restoring Your Railway programme, the line was restored in just 9 months. Regular train services on now run between Exeter and Okehampton for the first time in almost half a century. Trains run seven-days-a-week services with journey times between Okehampton and Exeter, including stopping at Crediton, taking approximately 40 minutes.
To make the restoration possible, Network Rail's team of engineers worked tirelessly to deliver a huge programme of work to 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.
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Upgrades? The station already has all of the things on the list. One thing which it unfortunately doesn’t have any more is the trains to Meldon quarry.
No toilets though!