Okehampton-Tavistock
A non-stop journey time of 59 minutes could be achieved between Plymouth and Exeter, under plans to reopen the ‘northern route’ between the two cities via Okehampton and Tavistock.
The Tavistock Okehampton Reopening Scheme (TORS) group says full reopening of the 58-mile route would improve access to education and jobs, as well as serving the region’s growing leisure and tourism market.
Having closed as a through route in 1968, the only surviving portions of the northern route are short stubs from Exeter-Meldon Quarry and Plymouth-Bere Alston. Some 21 miles would need reinstating from Meldon Quarry to Bere Alston. A passenger service from Exeter-Okehampton is set to be reinstated next year.
TORS expects that a full reopening would also enable an extension to Plymouth of
South Western Railway’s hourly Waterloo-Exeter St Davids services, to improve social inclusion and provide a range of economic and environmental benefits to a much larger part of Devon and Cornwall.
Express bus links from Okehampton to Torrington, Holsworthy, Launceston/Bude and Wadebridge/Padstow would also provide faster public transport links to those areas than ever before.
Costs are still being determined, but were estimated by Network Rail in 2014 to be £875 million (with a 66% contingency) for a full double-track railway.
TORS envisages that the rebuilt railway would be electrified throughout, with in-cab signalling and provision for freight services seeking to avoid the steeper gradients of the existing coastal route via Dawlish.
‘Surge’ capacity for three to four trains per hour would also be built, so that the line could act as a diversionary route should the coastal main line be closed due to bad weather or while NR conducts its South West Rail Resilience Programme.
TORS director and former Head of Franchise Planning at the Strategic Rail Authority Jim Collins said: “While there is further work to be done on the fine detail of the timings, we are confident in our analysis.
“The strategic impact of the full route reopening would be very significant under our proposals and would actually help NR’s longterm resilience programme for the coastal main line, which remains the region’s overwhelming transport priority.”
Fellow TORS director and Professor of Transport Geography at Plymouth University Jon Shaw has concluded that by 2080, the coastal route could be disrupted for more than 84 days a year due to the effects of climate change.
“We do not believe there is another single scheme in the UK which offers a better transport response to climate change caused by global warming,” he said.
TORS is now seeking funding for a Strategic Outline Business Case which would enable outstanding work on route options, service plans and community and stakeholder engagement.