THE chairman of the organisation OkeRail has said he was delighted with the turnout to the first ever OkeRail public consultation event, which attracted more than 250 people to the Charter Hall last Saturday (November 12).

The event was held to showcase the group’s efforts to try to bring back a regular passenger rail service connecting Okehampton to Exeter and find out local opinion on the reinstatement of the railway.

The group brings together local authorities and community groups with an effort to promote and fight for the return of a regular passenger rail service between Okehampton and Exeter by the end of 2017.

Surveys conducted at the event indicated that almost 60% of attendees would use the service on a daily basis — with 27% going on from Exeter to London and beyond.

West Devon Borough councillor Mike Davies is a key figure in the creation of OkeRail. He said: ‘We are very much heading in the right direction with our campaign and the fact that 7,500 journeys were made on our Sunday Rover service this year between Okehampton and Exeter shows the demand for a regular service.

‘While various organisations, including the OkeRail Forum, Destination Okehampton and OkeRail CIC have been making steady progress, the time has come to get the public more involved in the campaign and we used today’s meeting to launch a major consultation on the future of rail services in Okehampton, particularly the plans and costings for a parkway station.’

Richard Wolfenden-Brown, of The Bude and Holsworthy Railway Action Group, said: ‘The main surprise is that the line to Okehampton did not reopen years ago. It just seems the obvious thing to happen for so many reasons and the new group in Bude and Holsworthy will do all we can to help our colleagues in the Okehampton area to get the line open with all speed.’

Among those to attend the meeting was Central Devon MP Mel Stride. He said: ‘I firmly believe that the overall arguments for the return of a regular passenger rail service have been very convincingly made. What we now need to do is iron out some of the detail and plan how our goals can be achieved within the next few years. Properly engaging with local people to get their views is the next logical step and I urge residents to respond to the consultation that OkeRail launched today.’

The OkeRail exhibition is turning into a ‘Railshow’ for the region. There will be events at Crediton, Tavistock, Launceston, Bude and other communities. Town council working group Destination Okehampton and the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England will be helping to drive the events.

To find out how you can support the campaign visit the ‘OkeRail’ Facebook page or the OkeRail website www.okerail.2day.uk