The first public passenger train will pull into Okehampton Interchange Station this morning, marking the end of years’ worth of campaigning for a second station in the town.

An hourly service in both directions will begin at 07:07 today when the first train departs the Interchange station for Okehampton Station, before making the return journey to Exeter.

At an invitation-only opening ceremony yesterday, representatives from across the rail industry and local government, and Central Devon MP Sir Mel Stride, applauded local campaigners for their hard work and celebrated the possible benefits to the town and wider community.

Jo Grew, western route strategy director for Great Western Railway and Network Rail, said: “I do want to say an absolutely heartfelt thank you to Devon County Council and West Devon Borough Council. They’ve clearly shown ambition. They’ve had a bold strategy and a bold vision that has got us to this place today and, without that, we wouldn’t have got here.

“It isn’t just about a station, of course. This is about creating a hub for the community here and communities that may come in future development, and unlocking future development.”

Sir Mel Stride added: “I also wanted to thank the many, many volunteers and campaigners over the years who have really pushed and pressed to make today happen: OkeRail in particular, the Dartmoor Railway Association.

“Hope and a lot of aspirations and dreams were extinguished all those years ago [when Okehampton Station closed], but they’re back. What we see behind us now is an expression not just of a great new structure that’s going to be useful to the community, not just an expression of progress. It is an expression of hope. It is an expression of the hopes and aspirations that we now hold for the people of Okehampton and beyond.”

But the opening of the new station is not the end of the story for Okehampton’s rail campaigners, who say the next challenge is extending the line to link with Launceston and Bodmin.

Michael Ireland, chair of OkeRail, described Okehampton as “an oasis in a rail desert,” and said he believed the opening of the Interchange station would improve chances for a successful campaign in Cornwall. Dr Ireland has been working with the campaign group Connect North Cornwall on the Kernow Connect project, which proposes a fully-electrified rail line running from Okehampton to Bodmin via Launceston.

He added: “We must try to get that regeneration of the community down as far as Launceston to start off with. That’s why I work with Connect North Cornwall very closely…which is trying to bring the route back.

“That is not without its difficulties. But coming along the A30 is obviously a sensible route because that has already been used for a main infrastructure network. We’re not following the old railway route, but having a new route, and that would be fast.”

Okehampton residents remain concerned over the available facilities at the new station, especially the absence of toilets and drinking water amenities. However, there may be a solution on the horizon. West Devon Borough and Okehampton Hamlets Parish Councillor Jan Goffey said she had approached the Okehampton Skills and Sports Trust, which owns land by the station, with a proposal to build a cafe next to the site which could provide toilet and drinking water access to passengers. The group, she added, has drawn up plans and is now looking for funding and planning permission.

The roots of the rail campaign stretch back around 25 years, when OkeRail CIC first proposed reopening the railway. The late Bob Rush, an OkeRail CIC director, surveyor and engineer, began to draw up plans for a station on the east of the town, while former borough councillor Mike Davies reached out to politicians, including Mel Stride, and other decision-makers to engage them in the campaign, which continued to grow. In 2021, passenger services to Okehampton Station returned.

Okehampton Interchange Station includes a single platform, step-free access, a car park, a new bus stop, cycling facilities, and a combined cycle path and footpath.