Okehampton station’s newly refurbished cafe is set to open at the end of September to provide tourists, commuters and residents with a convenient rest point.
The Dartmoor Railway Association has confirmed that contractors are well on the way to completing the cafe and added that there are plans in place to hold an event in celebration at the end of next month.
Tom Baxter from the Dartmoor Railway Association, said: ‘The contractors are still working in the building so it’s not open yet but there are plans coming together to open a celebration event in September.’
While the cafe is being refurbished, the Dartmoor Railway Association has been running a tea and coffee stall on the opposite platform in order to provide passengers with refreshments but the service is set to stop soon as a pop-up van is expected to open outside the station this coming Monday which will be run by Leanne Knight and her team from the Amazing Brownie Bakers. Leanne is also set to run the café at the station – under its original name, the Bulleid Buffet – when it reopens in early autumn.
Leanne said: ‘It’s a real privilege to be part of the exciting developments underway at Okehampton station. My team and I are looking forward to welcoming customers from Monday as a taster for the full opening of the café to come.’
This opening of the mobile cafee will bring to an end the Dartmoor Railway Association’s direct involvement with the station’s catering service as the new van is being organised by railway company GWR.
Mr Baxter said: ‘It will be another bonus. We have provided tea and coffee three days a week, but the cafe will be a proper buffet with full meals. It would be back to how it used to be and will have good opening hours from early morning to late afternoon.
‘It will be really good for passengers and people using the Granite Way; a bonus all round.’
The cafe refurbishment is part of Okehampton station’s renewal which will also include the opening of a Dartmoor Railway Association shop and a Platform 3 waiting room.
Okehampton Station reopened in November last year, after being shut for nearly 50 years, offering passengers a two-hourly service to and from Exeter.
It has proved to be so successful that GWR and Network Rail upgraded the track earlier this year in order to improve the Exeter-Okehampton line and run an hourly service.
Okehampton Town Council, which was closely involved in the re-opening of the railway, has further plans to encourage tourism to the town.
The council has recently published a new town guide and has also considered other suggestions, including the installation of new fingerposts with additional travel time information similar to those found in Exeter and the introduction of a Business Improvement District (BID).
At the moment, the town council and West Devon Borough Council are supporting a second bid for funding to construct a new Okehampton Parkway train station on the eastern side of the town as part of the Government’s Levelling Up scheme.