Train naming to mark 25 years of the Tarka Line - Barnstaple station, 27th Nov

[whole diary]

[RichardB]

26 November 2014

Train naming to mark 25 years of the Tarka^▸ (Line from Barnstaple to Exeter) Line  - Barnstaple station, Thursday 27 November at 10 35

This Thursday, 27 November, First Great Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) is to name a train to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the launch of the project which has helped transform the line linking Barnstaple with Exeter.

The train, one of the branch^s regular two coach Class 150s, will be named ^The Tarka Line, the first 25 years 1989 ^ 2014^ at Barnstaple station at 1035 prior to a meeting of the Tarka Line Forum. The forum began life as the Exeter ^ Barnstaple Line Working Party at the beginning of the line development project and has met regularly ever since.

As part of the project, the working group came up with a brand name for the local railway service and the ^Tarka Line^ was born, launched at Barnstaple station in October 1989.

Devon County Council and British Rail were the prime movers behind the line development project which was so successful that it was quickly expanded to cover other rural branch lines in the far South West, creating the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership, a non-profit partnership supported by First Great Western, local authorities and others, based at Plymouth University. 

As well as the County Council and First Great Western, North Devon Council, Barnstaple Town Council and the Tarka Rail Association are among those represented on the Tarka Line Forum.

First Great Western Regional Development Manager, West, Dan Okey said:

^We are delighted to celebrate 25 years of the Tarka Line through the naming of this train.  First Great Western is proud to support the communities we serve. Train services are vital to the local economy, which is why we are working with the local community to improve services and offer greater value to customers.  While we celebrate 25 years today, our work on the line is not complete. 

"We recently announced an off peak day return fares deal for our customers (valid heading north on the line until March) and from December we are also lengthening the busiest trains to provide more seats for customers at peak times. We look forward to continuing to work with the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership and local communities to improve services and bring benefits to the local community".

Richard Burningham, Manager of the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership ^ and a former British Rail Travel Centre Manager at Barnstaple station ^ said ^The project begun twenty-five years ago has helped transform the Tarka Line.  The line now has more trains and more passengers than ever before.  Just under 600,000 journeys were made on the line last year, up from just over 225,000 ten years before, in 2003.  This shows how far we have all come.  In the late 1980s, there was still a real fear the line could shut.^

The idea for the train naming came from John Phillips, current Tarka Rail Association Chairman.  He said  ^When we realised that it is 25 years since the coining of the Tarka Line title, I suggested that a train naming to celebrate the fact would be a good way of spreading the message about this.  With most local (and some not so local) lines now sporting names, it is very pleasing that our line is leading the way.  As the oldest rail users group in the region we were originally tasked with working towards saving the line.  What a great transformation and success story we now have and we are looking forward to future developments with optimism^.
ENDS

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks for posting that item, RichardB - and congratulations to everyone involved in that resounding success story! 

[trainbuff]

I would also like to echo those last comments. Well done to all involved. Looking forward to the next quarter of a century.

[phile]

Does anybody know the Unit ?

[RichardB]

Thanks for the messages.  All went well earlier.  The unit is 150 261.  Here are some photos.

[Chris from Nailsea]

... and, purely for completeness, coverage from the local press - the North Devon Journal:

Tarka Train renamed to celebrate 25th anniversary


Representatives from the Tarka Line Forum at Barnstaple Station this morning

To celebrate 25 years of the Barnstaple to Exeter rail line First Great Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) have renamed one of the line^s trains.

The new name celebrates the important link between North Devon and the county capital, ^The Tarka Line, the first 25 years 1989 ^ 2014^.

The Tarka line links Barnstaple and a number of villages to Exeter and was setup by the county council, British Rail and what has become the Tarka Rail Forum.

The naming ceremony at Barnstaple train station at 10.35am on Thursday, November 27 brought together the people who made the line possible.

The forum consists of representatives of Devon County Council, FGW, North Devon Council, Barnstaple Town Council and the Tarka Rail Association.

First Great Western regional development manager, west, Dan Okey said: ^We are delighted to celebrate 25 years of the Tarka Line through the naming of this train. First Great Western is proud to support the communities we serve. Train services are vital to the local economy, which is why we are working with the local community to improve services and offer greater value to customers.

He added: ^We look forward to continuing to work with the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership and local communities to improve services and bring benefits to the local community^.

Manager of the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership ^ and former travel centre manager at Barnstaple station, Richard Burningham said: ^The project begun twenty-five years ago has helped transform the Tarka Line. The line now has more trains and more passengers than ever before. Just under 600,000 journeys were made on the line last year, up from just over 225,000 ten years before, in 2003.

^Today went brilliantly it's a real honour to have a train named, only four other trains of this type have been named and the last one was three years ago." He added: ^Community rail in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) started right here at Barnstaple rail station.^

Chairman of the Tarka Rail Association, John Phillips said today was a ^real honour^ and what's been achieved is thanks to all the different parties working together.

Mr Phillips has high hopes for the future. He said: ^From here the sky's the limit we predict, if we can keep capacity up, by 2025 we could have almost 2 million people using the line every year.^