More Okehampton benefits include improved links with Bude
MOST of the rail replacement bus services that were put on in the Beeching era, as a condition of allowing rail closures, lasted for a very short period. That wasn’t surprising, for in many cases the buses only ran between closed station forecourts without calling at town centres, lest they upset existing bus operators.
One of the few to last for many years was that from Exeter St Davids to Bude via Okehampton. When I first used it in the early 1970s, it was run by Jennings of Bude and consisted of four return journeys MonSat and one on Sundays. It took just under two hours and did serve Exeter Bus Station, too.
After Jennings ceased running, the route passed to First Bus. Then, when First cut back in the area, it passed to Stagecoach. Perhaps surprisingly, the timetable actually improved over the years, with eight return journeys a day earlier this year - and they were operated commercially, too.
Now, what is newsworthy is that after 56 years the route came to an end at the end of October, for the best possible reason: it now runs from Okehampton station to Bude and connects with trains.
There is a separate bus covering the intermediate places between Exeter and Okehampton which, of course, aren’t rail served. But for those wanting to access Bude, instead of a two-hour bus journey from St Davids, it’s just a 67-minute bus journey from Okehampton.
It’s true that the overall journey time is not a great saving, but it is less hassle changing trains at St Davids and then merely having a few steps onto an empty bus on arrival at Okehampton, instead of having to leave a main line train at St
Davids, exit the station by a bridge, then await a bus that can be quite busy on arrival having come from the city centre. I also think most people will prefer a train (with toilets!) and a bus to a very lengthy bus journey.
Thanks for this initiative is owed to Devon County Council, one of the most proactive public transport-oriented authorities in Britain. It almost goes without saying that all bus services are in a series of quality printed books.
The buses leave Okehampton station every three hours from 0733 to 1933 (giving an eightminute connection out of the trains) and depart Bude at 0605, 0910 and every three hours to 1810. On Sundays they depart Okehampton at 1228 and 1828 and Bude at 0805 and 1405.
All arrivals and departures at Okehampton have train connections every day.