ORGANISATIONS and other agencies could soon be joining forces to help bring the railway back to Okehampton after preliminary discussions last month.

Devon County Council hosted a meeting with representatives from key rail organisations and other agencies in the Okehampton area to establish whether there is a desire within the community to re-establish daily services on the Exeter to Okehampton rail line, and how the community can work together in a community led scheme.

A spokesman for the county council said: ‘The meeting agreed that there is a genuine will to work in partnership to look at how this may be done in the future. This was an initial meeting to test the water so no details or plans have emerged, but a further meeting will be held in the new year.’

Among those in attendance was Mel Stride, MP for Central Devon. He said: ‘There is no doubt that the overwhelming desire of residents in Okehampton and the surrounding area is to secure the return of a passenger service to Exeter and that the benefits of such a service would be hugely significant.’

In the next few months the picture should be clearer on whether it is likely that the railway will return to Okehampton. At the beginning of November the Peninsula Rail Task Force (PRTF) published interim plans for improving the region’s rail network in its report ‘On Track — the 20 year plan interim report’.

In this report, the PRTF highlights a three point plan — a resilient and reliable railway; reduced journey times to improve connectivity to and from the South West peninsula; and sufficient capacity, quality and comfort.

The northern route through Okehampton is described as being ‘crucial’ to the capacity and quality aspect of the three-point plan. The report was described as a ‘huge step forward in making the northern route happen’ by Mel Stride MP.

The PRTF report states that the northern route through Okehampton creates ‘potential for growth creation that warrants further investigation, providing better direct rail access to employment, education and retail areas in Plymouth and Exeter. The route also has the potential to provide a diversionary capability, increasing the resilience of the network’.

The task force is suggesting an in-depth assessment in 2016 to evaluate the wider benefits of the Okehampton route to consider the uplift in the area’s gross value added (GVA) — the measure of the value of goods and services produced in an area — as well as improved connectivity, environmental and freight opportunities.

The final report by the PRTF, which is made up of Devon, Cornwall and Somerset’s county councils; The Heart of the South West and Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnerships; and Torbay and Plymouth city councils, is to be published in 2016 and will turn its key findings into a programme of work that would transform rail connectivity for the region.

In the suggested hypothetical timeline for work on rail projects in the region, the report suggests that work should begin on the Okehampton line in the 2025-2029 phase of development.

A new study argues that climate change could disrupt up to a third of rail services travelling to and from the South West within the next 100 years. The report focuses on the impact of sea level rises on the Dawlish to Teignmouth line which connects Devon and Cornwall to the rest of Britain.

The report, published in the Journal of Transport Geography, said that ten per cent of journeys on the line, which was rebuilt and reopened in April 2014 after substantial storm damage, could be affected by 2040.

What are your thoughts on the railway returning to Okehampton? Should the Government invest millions into improving the region’s railways? Would you use the train if it passed through Okehampton?

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