A PUSH to encourage Okehampton shop owners to open for more hours in the week and seize the opportunities that come from the reopened railway service is expected to happen in the New Year.

Okehampton now has a golden opportunity to use the opening of the railway service to Exeter as a catalyst to improve the economy of the moorland location, town leaders said.

The call to businesses and shop owners follows the announcement from GWR that 10,000 passengers used the two hourly service in the first two weeks of operation.

Next summer the service between Okehampton and Exeter, the first to be reinstated under the Government’s Restoring Your Railway scheme, will be hourly.

Technical and business advisor for OkeRail, the campaign group who were instrumental in getting the trains back, Bruce Thompson, said the service was already proving popular with people wanting to travel to Exeter and Okehampton and the trains had real potential to increase the prosperity of the town.

’It is time for everyone in the town council, traders and the Okehampton community at large to grasp this opportunity,’ he said.

’Okehampton has lots of independent traders and a Victorian arcade that is an absolute gem but people don’t know about it.

’We really need to promote Okehampotn now, it is about making sure the town is a destination as well as as an origin for the trains.'

He said he believed regeneration was around the corner and when the cafe, shop and visitor information point was opened at the railway station it would be even more attractive to visitors.

Town councillor Christine Marsh, who runs community organisation Everything Okehampton, said she hoped town centre cafes and shops would look at their opening hours and consider opening for longer.

’I am disappointed that some of the shops and cafes are not opening until 10am and packing up by 3.30pm, some are also closed on certain weekdays,’ she said.

’We want Okehampton to be buzzing and it should be. My message to the whole of the trading community is – let’s make Okehampton a vibrant town.

’When people come here we want them to have a good first impression and then they will want to come back. If they come here and see that places are closed, they won’t come back.

’We have a compact little town. It’s not far to walk anywhere, that’s a real advantage. There is so much we can shout about. I would ask that people consider opening a little longer. We can advertise that Okehampton is open for business!'

Chairman of OkeRail Michael Ireland said he had travelled a lot on the train since it opened and people were coming from Exeter and Crediton to see what Okehampton had to offer.

He said people were wanting to visit the Museum of Dartmoor Life and the independent shops, the Victorian Arcade and Simmons Park in particular.

’The traders need to realise the potential business that the railway brings to the town,’ he said.