Tarka Line
Location	Devon, England
From	Exeter St Davids
To	Barnstaple
Distance	39 miles (63 km)
Status	Community railway
Owner	Network Rail
Principal operator	First Great Western
Freight operators	EWS
Connecting routes
At Exeter St Davids	Avocet Line London to Penzance Line Riviera Line
At Crediton	Dartmoor Railway
Infrastructure
Line speed	70 mph (110 km/h)
Number of tracks	1
Route Availability	6
Freight gauge	W6A
History
Opened	1851 - 1854
Built by	Exeter and Crediton Railway North Devon Railway
Subsequent owners	London and South Western Railway Southern Railway British Railways

The Tarka Line (named after the animal hero in Henry Williamson's book Tarka the Otter) is a railway line from Exeter to Barnstaple in Devon, England. The line follows the River Creedy, River Yeo and River Taw for some of its route. At Coleford Junction there is a branch to Okehampton, which has recently reopened to passenger trains as the Dartmoor Railway.

Contents 1 Route 2 Services 3 Passenger volume 4 Community rail 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Route

Communities served: Exeter – Newton St. Cyres – Crediton – Yeoford – Copplestone – Morchard Bishop – Lapford – Eggesford – King's Nympton – Umberleigh – Chapelton – Barnstaple

Parts of the line are single track, meaning that trains travelling in opposite directions must sometimes wait for each other. The full journey from Barnstaple to Exeter takes just over 1 hour, on-par with the journey time in a car.

Beyond Barnstaple, the railway used to continue to Ilfracombe or Instow and Bideford. Part of the latter route is preserved as the Bideford & Instow Railway, while sections of both routes have been reopened as cycleways on the Tarka Trail.

[edit] Services

Passenger services on the line are operated by First Great Western using Class 142, Class 143, Class 150 or Class 153 diesel multiple units. During the summer months a Sunday-only service operates (on behalf of Devon County Council) between Exeter Central and Okehampton.

[edit] Passenger volume

The majority of passengers travel to or from Barnstaple – about three times the number of all the other stations north of Exeter. Chapelton is the quietest station in Devon. Many of the smaller stations have seen a decline in passenger numbers during the last few years, although there have been significant increases at Umberleigh and Eggesford, and on the line overall. Comparing the year from April 2007 to that which started in April 2002, passenger numbers at Barnstaple have increased by 48%.^[1]

	2002-03	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Newton St Cyres	1,147	702	780	889	1,662
Crediton	21,607	22,478	22,550	24,021	27,422
Yeoford	7,993	6,883	6,848	7,701	7,445
Coplestone	1,231	356	1,090	2,283	4,563
Morchard Road	4,676	3,442	2,712	2,341	2,904
Lapford	4,912	2,104	1,658	2,208	1,967
Eggesford	11,430	14,152	16,009	18,184	18,658
Kings Nympton	4,013	2,400	1,781	1,009	1,033
Portsmouth Arms	614	372	510	667	1,012
Umberleigh	7,951	8,301	10,408	12,564	13,811
Chapelton	734	472	161	120	208
Barnstaple	176,682	194,474	210,846	238,082	261,174

The statistics are for passengers arriving and departing from each station and cover twelve month periods that start in April.

[edit] Community rail

v • d • e Tarka Line

Legend miles Riviera Line to Paignton and GWML to Penzance River Exe SWT to London and Avocet Line to Exmouth 0.00 Exeter St Davids Red Cow Crossing Riverside Yard Cowley Bridge Junction River Exe Great Western Main Line to London Paddington 4.25 Newton St Cyres 6.75 Crediton 10.50 Yeoford 11.50 Coleford Junction Dartmoor Railway to Okehampton 13.50 Copplestone 15.00 Morchard Road 17.50 Lapford 21.25 Eggesford 25.25 King's Nympton 28.25 Portsmouth Arms River Taw 32.25 Umberleigh River Taw 34.75 Chapelton Langham Lake River Taw Pill Bridge Devon and Somerset Railway to Taunton GW Line Junction 39.00 Barnstaple Ilfracombe Line Junction North Devon Railway to Bideford Ilfracombe Branch Line to Ilfracombe

The Tarka Line is one of the railway lines supported by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, an organisation formed in 1991 to promote railway services in the area. The line is promoted by many means such as regular timetable and scenic line guides, as well as leaflets highlighting leisure opportunities such as walking or visiting country pubs.

The Tarka Line Rail Ale Trail was launched in 2002, the first of several such schemes which encourages rail travellers to visit pubs near the line. The trail originally covered 16 pubs, increasing to 19^[when?], but now 18 pubs. There are five pubs each in Exeter and four in Barnstaple, with one each at Newton St Cyres, Crediton, Yeoford, Copplestone, Morchard Road, Lapford, Eggesford, Portsmouth Arms, and Umberleigh. 5, 10 or 18 stamps collected in the Rail Ale Trail leaflet entitle the participant to claim special Tarka Line Rail Trail souvenir merchandise.

Wessex Trains covered Class 150 2-car DMU number 150241 in coloured pictures promoting the line and named The Tarka Belle. It is still in service with First Great Western but has now been repainted into dynamic lines livery.

The line was designated by the Department for Transport as a community rail line in September 2006. This aims to increase revenue and reduce costs. Among possible options are increasing the car parking at stations, looking at ways to increase the train frequency, and assisting the Dartmoor Railway to operate a connecting service between Yeoford and Okehampton.

[edit] See also

• Tarka Trail

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tarka Line

• Great Scenic Railways in Devon and Cornwall.
• North Devon Rail Users Group.

v • d • e Railway lines in South-West England and the "Great Western" zone InterCity lines Cross Country Route · Great Western Main Line Main lines Bristol to Taunton Line · Cherwell Valley Line · Cornish Main Line · Gloucester-Newport Line · Reading to Plymouth Line · South Wales Main Line · Wessex Main Line · West of England Main Line · Reading to Basingstoke Line Commuter lines Exeter-Exmouth "Avocet" Line · Greenford Branch Line · Severn Beach Line · Slough-Windsor & Eton Line Rural lines Exeter-Barnstaple "Tarka" Line · Golden Valley Line · Heart of Wessex Line · Henley Branch Line · Looe Valley Line · Marlow Branch Line · Par-Newquay "Atlantic Coast" Line · Exeter-Paignton "Riviera" Line · St Ives Bay Line · Tamar Valley Line · Truro-Falmouth "Maritime" Line Related topics 21st Century upgrade of the Great Western Main Line