Devon and Cornwall is littered with the remains of its once thriving locomotive past - with scores of abandoned railway lines overgrowing with weeds.
Just over a year ago, the Government announced plans to reverse some of the devastating cuts to the nation’s railways.
A £500m fund was launched to help fund feasibility studies of routes that could be restored.
And while the past year has been dominated by the coronavirus crisis, progress has been made in terms of allocated that funding and towards trains once again running on long forgotten lines or stopping at long forgotten stations.
A regular Okehampton to Exeter service is set to resume running later this year, while proposals to reopen Cullompton railway station have progressed to the next stage, as have proposals for enhanced existing passenger services between Truro and Falmouth.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service though takes a look back to the Beeching Axe and all the lines in Devon and Cornwall that were lost and also the status of any proposals that had been put forward so far to reopen any lines.
WHAT WAS THE BEECHING AXE?
Dr Richard Beeching, in two reports, The Reshaping of British Railways (1963) and The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes (1965), identified that 2,363 stations and 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of railway line for closure could be closed – totalling 55 per cent of stations and 30 per cent of route miles across Great Britain.
His analysis showed that the least-used 1,762 stations had annual passenger receipts of less than £2,500 each (£56,500 in 2020) and that the least-used 50 per cent of stations contributed only two per cent of passenger revenue and that one third of route miles carried just one per cent of passengers.
He recommended that mostly rural and industrial lines—should be closed entirely, and that some of the remaining lines should be kept open only for freight. A total of 2,363 stations closed, although 435 already under threat of closure prior to the Beeching Axe.
WHAT BIDS HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED SO FAR?
In the first two rounds of submissions, 13 proposals that cover Devon and Cornwall’s railways had been put forward. They are:
- To reinstate the Helston Railway Link
- To extend the light railway to the Barnstable Branch (Chivenor Braunton)
- To extend the Lostwithiel to Carne Point (Fowey) rail line
- To restore the Newton Abbot to Heathfield railway link
- To re-open the Tavistock-Okehampton line
- To re-open the Wellington and Cullompton Railway
- To re-open the Primrose Line
- To enhance services on the Newquay Line
- To support frequency enhancements to Falmouth
- To re-open the Goodrington and Churston Stations
- To reinstate Bodmin to Wadebridge railway and associated work
- To reinstate the Ashburton and Buckfastleigh Junction Railway
- To increase service provision from Bodmin General to Bodmin Parkway
Of those, only the schemes to support frequency enhancements to Falmouth and to re-open the Wellington and Cullompton Railway have so far been successful.
The proposals for Cornwall, which would mean improving the infrastructure on the Newquay branch and introducing through services between Newquay, St Austell, Truro and Falmouth under the title of Mid-Cornwall Metro.
For Cullompton, they have been successful in securing funding of £50,000 from the Department of Transport’s (DfT), Restoring your Railway Ideas Fund which has supported the development of a strategic outline business case.
Mid Devon councillors have backed proceeded to the next stage of the £16million scheme and will meet with the partners to consider next stages including whether the project will proceed, to continue positive contact with senior officials within the rail industry and the DfT to continue to raise the profile of the project and the development of a bid for the New Stations Fund in the event of a fourth-round being announced in 2021.
THE LOST LINES OF DEVON AND CORNWALL AS PART OF THE BEECHING AXE
THE DARTMOOR RAILWAY – EXETER TO PLYMOUTH VIA OKEHAMPTON
The Exeter to Plymouth railway of the London and South Western Railway, rather than follow the coastline as the Great Western Railway route did, followed the northern and western margins of Dartmoor, passing through the towns of Crediton, Okehampton,and Tavistock.
The route that connected the two cities was completed by 1891, but the Beeching Axe saw the line closED and just the local service remainED at either end.
Trains between Exeter and Plymouth via Okehampton were withdrawn from May 6, 1968, when the 20-mile section between Meldon Quarry and Bere Alston was lifted, and between Meldon and Okehampton the line was only retained for freight trains.
Okehampton to Exeter passenger services were withdrawn on June 5, 1972, but since 1997 a limited service has run between Okehampton and Exeter on Sundays during the summer.
But regular passenger services will be returning after the reopening of the line between Okehampton and Exeter was included in the Government Comprehensive Spending Review and the National Infrastructure Strategy, although no date has yet been firmly announced it is hoped to be before the end of 2021.
The section between Bere Alston and Tavistock has been put forward as part of the Beeching Restoration Fund but not yet been fully successful
And this has raised hope that the section between Tavistock and Okehampton could reopen and complete the ‘Dawlish avoiding route’, with the line listed in 2019 by Campaign for a Better Transport as a ‘priority 1’ candidate for reopening.
Richard Burningham, manager at Devon and Cornwall Rail partnership, said in 2020 while he doesn’t see the full line reopening any time soon, there is hope in the future.
He said: “If Tavistock and Okehampton reopen and are a success, then there is just 15 miles of track gap, and if they are a success then reopening could be an option.”
But potential problems with reopening the line all the way from Exeter to Plymouth include reversals of the train required at both Exeter St David’s and Plymouth, adding a further 10 to 14 minutes to through journeys, and this would impact on capacity on those stations, and the cost to double the track throughout has been estimated at £875m, and raising the track at areas of flood risk costing an additional £290m.
OKEHAMPTON TO BUDE
The Okehampton–Bude line was a railway line built to serve Holsworthy in Devon, and Bude on the Cornish coast. The line branched from the main line at Meldon Junction to the west of Okehampton and the line opened in 1879 to Holsworthy and in 1898 to Bude.
But the area served by the line was sparsely populated— records that fewer than seven tickets a day were sold at Ashbury in 1936—and passenger numbers were declining steadily, especially when private car ownership became commonplace even before the Beeching Axe.
The line closed on October 1, 1966, although it was already omitted from the Western Region timetable commencing April 18, 1966, as it has been expected to close before then, along with the route from Halwill to Wadebridge.
HALWILL JUNCTION TO TORRINGTON
The North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway was a railway built to serve numerous ball clay pits that lay in the space between the London and South Western Railway’s Torrington branch, an extension of the North Devon Railway group, and Halwill,
The line continued to take passengers until March 1, 1965, and the northern part from Meeth and Marland continued to carry ball clay, but not passengers, until August 1982.
BARNSTAPLE TO TORRINGTON
The Bideford Extension Railway from Barnstaple opened in 1855 and then was extended in 1972 to Torrrington.
Economic stagnation in North Devon in the twentieth century though meant that the train service failed to develop, and the North Devon lines remained single track.
Regular passenger trains from Barnstaple were withdrawn on October 2, 1965, and special train occasionally used the line until it was closed in 1982.
Proposals to extend Light railway to the Barnstaple Branch (Chivenor Braunton) “TawLink” have been put forward but not yet been successful.
THE ILFRACOMBE BRANCH LINE
The Ilfracombe branch of the London & South Western Railway (LSWR), ran between Barnstaple and Ilfracombe in North Devon. The branch opened as a single-track line in 1874, but was sufficiently popular that it needed to be upgraded to double-track in 1889.
The 1–in–36 gradient between Ilfracombe and Mortehoe stations was one of the steepest sections of double track railway line in the country, and was most certainly the fiercest climb from any terminus station in the UK.
Passenger numbers though dropped dramatically in the years following the Second World War and the line was mentioned as a candidate for closure in the Reshaping of British Railways report in 1963.
However, it was not until October 5, 1970, that the line closed, although the last train ran on October 3. The track was lifted in June 1975 and the distinctive curved steel girder bridge over the River Taw in Barnstaple was demolished in 1977
The trackbed between Mortehoe Station and Ilfracombe has been restored as the Devon Coast to Coast Cycle Route (rail trail) and forms part of the Tarka Trail.
Combe Rail was set up in 2015 and hope to eventually reopen the line.
EXE VALLEY RAILWAY
Services generally ran through from Dulverton to Exeter St Davids from the opening in 1884 until the closure of the line in October 1963.
In 1890, Mrs Towns was appointed signalwoman at Morebath Junction, one of the stations on the line, and she is the only recorded example of a signalwoman on any railway in Britain in the 19th century.
Stoke Canon station, the first outside of Exeter, closed in 1960, and passenger trains were withdrawn from the line on October 7, 1963.
Trains from Tiverton Railway Station continued to serve Tiverton Junction until October 5, 1964. Tiverton Junction was closed in 1986 to be replaced by Tiverton Parkway.
CULM VALLEY LIGHT RAILWAY
The line ran from Tiverton Junction station on the Bristol to Exeter line, through the Culm valley to Hemyock.
It opened in 1876 but passenger numbers were never that way, and a notice of intention to discontinue the passenger service was given in 1962, and the line closed on September 7, 1963.
TAUNTON TO EXETER
Although the line remained opened under the Beeching Axe, a number of stations between Taunton and Exeter closed in 1964.
Tiverton Junction, Cullompton, Hele and Bradninch and Silverton were closed to passengers on October 5, 1964.
But there is a hope that a new Cullompton station can be built, as part of the “Devon Metro” plans by Devon County Council, a new station near the location of the old station is a ‘possible’ long term proposal.
TEIGN VALLEY AND MORETONHAMPSTEAD LINES
The Teign Valley line ran from Newton Abbot to Exeter, connecting the two locations via a rural route that ran through the Teign Valley and the villages of Heathfield, Chudleigh, Christow and Ide.
It opened in 1882, branching from the Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway’s station at Heathfield, to Christow, and then was extended to Exeter in 1903.
But the line saw a decline in traffic and passenger services were withdrawn initially in June 1958, and following the Beeching Axe and the withdrawal of Freight the line finally closed in 1967.
The line to Moretonhampstead saw the saw fate, being closed in 1959 to passengers, with goods trains withdrawn beyond Bovey in 1964 and Heathfield in 1970.
There is a campaign by the Heath Rail Link Group though to reinstate trains between Newton Abbot and Heathfield, and a bid was submitted, but has not yet been successful as part of the Restoring Your Railway Fund.
THE PRIMROSE LINE
The Kingsbridge branch line, known as the Primrose line, opened in 1893. It ran from Brent railway station, that served the village of South Brent, down to Kingsbridge. Initially there was plans to extend the line to Salcombe, but that section was never constructed.
After the Second World War increasing use of road transport for goods and travel resulted in declining use of the branch line, with it making substantial losses.
The line closed to goods from September 9, 1963, and was intended to have closed completely on that date; however there was a delay in the substitute bus company obtaining the necessary licence, and the last train ran on September 14, 1963.
Brent railway station was closed the following year, with the last passenger train stopping on October 5, 1964.
But proposals for the line and Brent station have been submitted, with Totnes MP Anthony Mangnall leading the campaign to explore the feasibility of its reopening.
EXMINSTER
A station was built at Exminster by George Hennet. It was opened in August 1852 and it was on the Exeter to Plymouth line.
But the station closed for passenger traffic on March 30, 1964, and for goods on December 4, 1967.
In November 2017, it was proposed that Exminster could reopen along with Kingskerswell as part of a ten-year strategy for Teignbridge, although plans for these two stations would be long-term ambitions.
THE RIVIERA LINE
The railway branch line from Newton Abbot to Kingswear initially served 11 stations, and unusually for a branch line, the majority remain intact.
Kingskerswell station closed on October 5, 1964, and the line down to Brixham closed in 1963.
Trains continue to travel between Paignton and Kingswear, and then onto Dartmouth via the passenger ferry, but via the Dartmouth Steam Railway. Dartmouth station remains unique as being a railway station that is open and sells tickets, but has never seen a train, as all passengers connect via the ferry to Kingswear.
Totnes MP Anthony Mangnall and Kevin Foster in Torbay though are seeking support for a bid to investigate restoring public use of stations at Goodrington and Churston, between Paignton and Brixham, and a bid has been submitted.
Both are now stops on a heritage line which took over the route after the line beyond Paignton was closed by British Rail in the 1970s.
SEATON BRANCH LINE
The Seaton branch line connected the seaside resort of Seaton to the main line network at Seaton Junction railway station, on the main line between Salisbury and Exeter.
The branch line opened in 1868; it became very popular with holidaymakers, greatly enhancing the attraction of the resort, but it declined and the line was closed on March 7, 1966.
But the alignment between Riverside (just north of the old Seaton Station) and Colyton was purchased by Modern Electric Tramways Ltd, who then established the Seaton Tramway, which runs between Seaton and Colyton, where the original station building is still in use as the Tramway’s gift shop and restaurant.
LYME REGIS BRANCH LINE
The Lyme Regis branch line was a railway branch line connecting the seaside town of Lyme Regis with the main line railway network at Axminster, running through picturesque rural countryside on the Dorset – Devon border.
It opened in 1903 and served the village of Combpyne as well as Lyme Regis, but passenger use declined in the years following the Second World War, and only summer weekends remained busy.
The line was closed as part of the Beeching Axe and the last train travelled on November 29, 1965.
SIDMOUTH AND BUDLEIGH SALTERTON RAILWAYS
The London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) opened a main line from Yeovil to Exeter on July 18, 1860, but the nearest station to the East Devon coastline was at Feniton (then known as Sidmouth Junction.
So in 1874, a branch line to Sidmouth was opened, and a second branch line to Exmouth, via Budleigh Salterton followed in 1897.
Passenger numbers remained viable well into the 1950s, but rail service rationalisation in the 1960s significantly reduced the frequency of train services, with the reduction in passenger numbers led inevitably to closure of the branch line as part of the Beeching Axe.
Services to Sidmouth ceased on May 8, 1967, as did services on the Sidmouth Junction to Exmouth line.
East Devon MP Simon Jupp ahead of the General Election said that ‘if there is any way we could reopen the train line to Sidmouth we should’, although the site, on the outskirts of the town, has been completely redeveloped with a builders merchant built on the goods yard and an industrial estate on the passenger line and a housing development built on the trackbed to the north of the station.
NORTH CORNWALL RAILWAY
The line between Halwill Junction and Padstow, the North Cornwall Railway, opened in stages, with the first section to Launceston in 1886 and the sixth section from Wadebridge to Padstow in 1899.
But throughout its existence the North Cornwall line had operated against the odds, its long line serving sparsely populated and relatively unproductive terrain. The thin population meant that little intermediate traffic was generated, and a passenger service of four or five daily trains was operated almost throughout the life of the line.
Following the Beeching Report, the line had only its romantic appeal to offer, with even the highly seasonal summer holiday traffic falling away in the face of road transport and more attractive destinations.
The line closed on October 3, 1966, although the Wadebridge to Padstow section continuing to be served by Bodmin trains until it too closed on January 18, 1967
BODMIN AND WADEBRIDGE RAILWAY
The Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway was a railway line opened in 1834 in Cornwall. It linked the quays at Wadebridge with the town of Bodmin and also to quarries at Wenfordbridge.
It was the first steam-powered railway line in the county and predated the main line to London by 25 years, but traffic on the line remained very light throughout its existence and passenger services finished on January 30, 1967, when the line closed as part of the Beeching Axe.
Proposals to reinstate the Bodmin to Wadebridge railway and to increase service provision from Bodmin General to Bodmin Parkway have both been submitted to Government.
TRURO AND NEWQUAY RAILWAY
The line was completed in 1905 and closed in 1963 as part of the Beeching Axe.
It ran as the name would suggest between Truro and Newquay, serving St Agnes and Perranporth, but the scarcity of the population and improved roads meant it was recommended for closure, and the line closed on February 4, 1963.
LOSTWITHIEL AND FOWEY RAILWAY
Initially opened in 1869, the line ran into financial difficulties and closed in 1880. But it was reopened in 1895 and trains from Par to Fowey.
However, under the Beeching Axe, as the line had never been heavily used, the passenger service from Lostwithiel to Fowey was withdrawn on January 4, 1965.
A bid to extend the Lostwithiel to Carne Point (Fowey) rail line has been submitted but has not yet been successful.
THE LINES THAT WERE REPRIEVED
TAMAR VALLEY LINE
The Tamar Valley Line remains open, but was listed for closure as part of the Beeching Axe.
However, it escaped closure, except for the section between Gunnislake and Callington, because the roads in the area were so poor. The line remains open today from Plymouth to Gunnislake, and includes a stop at Bere Alston, where it is hoped that the line to Tavistock can be reopened.
LOOE VALLEY LINE AND ST IVES BAY LINE
The Looe Valley Line, between Liskeard and Looe, and the St Ives Bay line, between St Erth and St Ives. were set to close as part on the Beeching Axe. But in 1966, just two weeks before their closure, Minister of Transport Barbara Castle granted them a reprieve.
THE AVOCET LINE
Dr Beeching had proposed closing the Avocet Line between Exeter and Exmouth, but following a local campaign to save it, the line avoided the axe.
Since, 2001, usage of the Avocet Line (Exeter-Exmouth) has grown by 140 per cent.
Other branch lines that has been increase in usage include the Tamar Valley Line (Plymouth-Gunnislake), up by 58 per cent,
In Cornwall, the Looe Valley Line (Liskeard-Looe) has seen growth of 99 per cent, the Atlantic Coast Line (Par-Newquay) has grown 113 per cent, the St Ives Bay Line (St-Erth-St Ives) has grown by 76 per cent, while the Maritime Line (Falmouth-Truro) is up a whopping 276 per cent.
WHAT IS THE BEECHING REVERSAL FUND?
The £500m fund will not be used to build new railway lines but will help fund feasibility studies of routes that could be restored.
Speaking on a visit to the Fleetwood and Poulton-le-Fylde line last year, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps launched the new investment that will drive forward the reversal of the controversial Beeching cuts.
To launch the reversal scheme, the government is also giving funding to develop proposals for re-opening 2 lines in the near future:
- £1.5 million to the Ashington-Blyth-Tyne Line in Northumberland
- £100,000 to the Fleetwood line in Lancashire
Mr Shapps MP said: “Many communities still live with the scars that came from the closure of their local railway more than 5 decades ago. Today sees work begin to undo the damage of the Beeching cuts by restoring local railways and stations to their former glory.
“Investing in transport links is essential to levelling up access to opportunities across the country, ensuring our regions are better connected, local economies flourish and more than half a century of isolation is undone.”
Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris added: “This is an exciting moment as we look to revitalise our railways, reconnect communities and reinvigorate our country.
“Local MPs, councillors and community leaders are the greatest champions of their local lines, and we want to work closely together to ensure the projects with the greatest potential have the support they need.”
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The Department for Transport will fund 75 per cent of costs, up to £50,000, of successful proposals to help fund transport and economic studies and create a business case. Future funding to develop projects would be subject to agreement of the business case.
Bids are currently being accepted for the third round of the Ideas Fund and submissions will be accepted until March 5, 2021.
THE IMPACT ON DEVON
Speaking back in 2014, Mr Burningham said the biggest damage was caused to the seaside resorts of North Devon.
In an interview with the BBC, he said: “”Ilfracombe has stuggled ever since the town lost its railway. The Beeching Report proposed that the line from Exeter should stop at Barnstaple and that’s what happened. The service eventually came to an end in 1970.
“And the Barnstaple to Torrington line – which is now the Tarka Trail – was closed to passengers in 1965, so the North Devon coast effectively lost its railways.”
It had been envisaged by Dr Beeching that buses would replace railways, but this recommendation that he put forward didn’t happen.
Mr Burningham added: “This was one of the big mistakes, and it cost places like Ilfracombe and other seaside towns dear because people simply stopped coming.
“About a quarter of holidaymakers to Ilfracombe got there by train before 1962, so this was a large number of people.”
Beeching didn’t get it all wrong, and not all the closures were his doing – some were closed long before he had his say
“But Beeching cut too much. I could see a network about 20 per cent bigger today which would have been really useful.
“We’d have kept Okehampton, Tavistock and Ilfracombe – they could all be providing a good service now.”
