As Okehampton prepares for the imminent opening of the new hourly railway service, businesses have described how the positive ‘railway effect’ is impacting the town.

Since the opening of the railway in November last year, thousands of people have used the railway which is also attracting new residents and resulting in other infrastructure improvements.

Okehampton estate agent James Stevens said: ‘It’s difficult to quantify by how much the railway has affected the housing market as it shot through the roof at about the same time, but I am definitely seeing more clients wanting to buy and businesses wanting to buy units.

‘Okehampton is changing dramatically. We didn’t have the infrastructure before but now there are lots of new employment opportunities, we have the new school and now we’ve got the railway line.’

Rob Beckon, press officer at Network Rail, has also said that the company has been ‘pleasantly surprised’ by the number of passengers and commented that it ‘could only be a positive thing for the town.’

Network Rail, which manages the railway track infrastructure, is now looking to upgrade the track further and will be implementing a nine day blockade from April 25 to carry out the work.

Mr Breckon said: ‘We will start to do the next stage of upgrades to make sure the service moves from a two hourly to hourly service smoothly. Obviously it’s working at the moment but we want to do a few bits and pieces.’

As The Times went to press, Network Rail and Great Western Railway (GWR), which runs the trains, were planning a meeting to discuss the figures on service usage and to confirm the opening date of the new hourly service, originally planned for May..

A new cafe and shop is also planned for the station but as yet there is no definite opening date.

Okehampton Town Council has been closely involved in the opening of the railway line and has put forward several ideas to encourage railway visitors to the town.

Okehampton Town Councillor and West Devon Borough Councillor Tony Leech said that figures from last month estimate that an average of 10,000 passengers have used the Exeter-Okehampton service.

Cllr Leech has also been a great supporter of promoting Okehampton’s image as a ‘gateway to Dartmoor’ and has proposed placing a statue by the station portraying hikers on the moor to highlight Okehampton’s links to the moorland.

He said: ‘It’s a great way to the moor and we should latch onto that. Going back some years, I was talking to developers who said the thing that would promote Okehampton would be the reopening of the railway.’

Following a presentation by OkeRail in January, the town council has approved alterations to signage around the town to make it easier to navigate for first-time visitors to the town.

This has included new fingerposts which would direct visitors to local landmarks and tourist destinations along with providing them travel time information similar to those in Exeter. It is also possible that the town council will place a town map at the station to give tourists more information.

It was also suggested to the council that it consider establishing a Business Improvement District (BID) in Okehampton’s town centre but this has been met with some opposition as local businesses are uncertain whether it would be in their best interests.

Okehampton Town Councillor Jan Goffey raised the suggestion this week that the council consider placing a sign directing walkers to the pathway that leads from the station to the park, which is currently unmarked and difficult to find.

So far, the town council are organising new signs for Simmons Park and are currently discussing what information it should give on them.

However, town councillors are hopeful that funding for a new Parkway Station will be approved as it is thought this will make Okehampton a particularly attractive place to live, work and visit.

‘What we do need is the Parkway Station because commuters will find it easier to just drive into the east side of the town, so we need to cross our fingers, toes and eyes,’ added Cllr Leech.