Devon Metro

Project to improve the rail services in and around Exeter
Construction at Marsh Barton station in 2021, part of the Devon Metro project.

The Devon Metro is a proposed rapid transit–style service on the regional rail network in Exeter and its environs,[1] which Devon County Council has been working to establish since 2011.[2][3][4] The intention is to move towards a Devon Metro service through a series of improvements to the current network, including opening new stations at Cranbrook, Newcourt, and Marsh Barton.

Routes

The planned Devon Metro incorporates services on the Riviera Line from Exeter to Newton Abbot and Paignton, the Avocet Line to Exmouth, the Tarka Line to Barnstaple, and the West of England Main Line as far as Honiton,[5] with some sources also including the rest of the county's rail network.[2]

Completed enhancements

Cranbrook station

Cranbrook railway station opened in 2015.[6]

Newcourt station

Newcourt railway station opened in 2015.

Riviera Line timetable changes

As part of the Devon Metro project, frequency on the Riviera Line between Exeter and Paignton was increased to two trains per hour,[7][8] which has also had the effect of increasing the frequency of the Avocet Line to Exmouth.

Also as part of the project, in the 2020 timetable change, the Tarka Line service between Barnstaple and Exeter was segregated from the service on the Avocet and Riviera Lines from Exmouth to Paignton via Exeter. It has been proposed that the Tarka Line could now be extended east from Exeter to Honiton along the West of England Main Line.[5]

Dartmoor Line

Prior to its reopening, the Dartmoor Line had not seen regular passenger service since 1972. It was used from then as a freight and heritage railway line, with trains carrying stone from Meldon Quarry and a heritage passenger service between Meldon Viaduct and Sampford Courtenay. From 1997, Devon County Council commissioned a "Dartmoor Sunday Rover" to be operated by First Great Western from Okehampton to St James Park in Exeter via St Davids during the summer period.

By 2020 both the quarry and the heritage railway had ceased operations. With the stone freight and heritage traffic gone, and the summer sunday service showing some success, this provided an opportunity for the full reopening and reintegration of the Dartmoor Line with the rest of the network.

In 2021, Network Rail acquired the line and laid new track from Colyford Junction to Okehampton funded by the Government's Restoring Your Railway programme. In November the same year regular passenger services recommenced, with 2tph from Okehampton to St Davids calling at Crediton. On weekday peaks, 5 trains a day also continue to Central and a select few continuing further to St James Park on match days. This was increased to an hourly service in 2022.

Sampford Courtenay, which was previously served by the GWR summer sunday service until 2019, has all trains pass through non-stop despite having a new platform surface installed when Network Rail took ownership and there are no plans to bring it back into passenger use.

Marsh Barton station

Construction work started at Marsh Barton in April 2021.[9] The station was added to the National Rail timetable in May 2022, eventually opening for passenger services in July 2023.

Ongoing Works

Okehampton Interchange

Following the reopening of the Dartmoor Line in 2021, plans and funding were announced for a 'West Devon Transport Hub' east of Okehampton in November 2023. Funding was approved by the Government in June 2024 as part of their "Levelling Up" policy and the station is expected to be opened in 2025, with Design scoping and ecological survey work currently taking place.[10]

Proposals

Plans to create a Devon Metro also include new stations at Edginswell, Cullompton and Monkerton. Furthermore, the council wishes for the Dartmoor Railway to be extended to serve the town of Tavistock, which would revive a connection provided until 1968 by the Exeter to Plymouth railway of the LSWR. A Tavistock rail link is funded by the Restoring Your Railway funds via the Tamar Valley Line and could be constructed.[1] This is currently having a business plan made for the restoration of the line by Network Rail.

References

  1. ^ a b "Background - Marsh Barton railway station". Devon County Council. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b Clark, Daniel (5 August 2019). "The Devon Metro proposals - eight years after they were launched". Devon Live. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  3. ^ "DEVON METRO – A SUMMARY" (PDF). Avocet Line Rail Users Group. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  4. ^ Thompson, Bruce; Tozer, Dave; Abbott, James (23 February 2021). "Devon Metro moves forward". Modern Railways. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  5. ^ a b https://citizensrail.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Avocet-Line-Rail-Users-Group.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  6. ^ "Cranbrook train station opens today". Express & Echo. Exeter. 13 December 2015. Archived from the original on 14 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  7. ^ "Half hourly Paignton services to be restored". 21 February 2014.
  8. ^ https://committees.exeter.gov.uk/documents/s37205/Transport%20Initiatives%20and%20Issues%20Update%20Appx%201%20Final.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  9. ^ "Work starts on Exeter's Marsh Barton station". Modern Railways Online. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  10. ^ Okehampton Interchange, Dartmoor Line. "Okehampton Interchange". The Dartmoor Line. Retrieved 2024-06-08.