Barnstaple for Christmas?

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

A further update, from First Great Western JourneyCheck:

Line problem: between Exeter St Davids and Barnstaple.
Owing to flooding between Exeter St Davids and Barnstaple all lines are blocked.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled at short notice. Disruption is expected until 09:00 02/01.
Road transport is operating between Exeter St David's and Barnstaple, however because of flooding on local roads this may be limited, and may not be able to serve all intermediate stations.
It is expected that the line will be open from Exeter St David's to Crediton from the start of service on Tuesday 1st January 2013. Customers travelling beyond Crediton to Barnstaple will be required to change at Exeter St David's for replacement road transport.
Further work is required to repair the line between Crediton and Barnstaple and this is expected to take several days, although this is subject to alteration as work progresses.
Message Received: 31/12/2012 21:22

[Chris from Nailsea]

Latest update, from First Great Western JourneyCheck:

Line problem: between Exeter St David's and Barnstaple.
Owing to flooding between Exeter St David's and Barnstaple all lines are blocked.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled at short notice. Disruption is expected until 09:00 04/01.
Train services are operating between Exeter St David's and Crediton.
However, road transport will remain in operation between Exeter St David's and Barnstaple and may not be able to serve all intermediate stations should local road conditions deteriorate.
Customers travelling to / from stations Yeoford - Barnstaple (inclusive) from / to Exeter St Davids, and beyond, are advised to use the road services through from / to Exeter St David's. Whilst those starting or finishing their journey at Crediton, travelling to / from the Exeter St Davids direction, or beyond, should use the reintroduced train services.
Further work is required to repair the line between Crediton and Barnstaple and this is expected to take several days, although this is subject to alteration as work progresses.
Message Received: 01/01/2013 12:42

[SandTEngineer]

It would appear that two river bridges may have been damaged and are planned to be inspected by divers today before a tamper can proceed further to complete that track fettling.

[DavidBrown]

From what the North Devon Journal website has said, there's nothing as yet to suggest that the bridges have been damaged, the problem is that the river flow is still too fast for engineers to dive in and investigate. It's just a waiting game until the river is safe enough and only then can a date for reopening be set.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Another update, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Devon Tarka^▸ (Line from Barnstaple to Exeter) branch line expected to reopen by Monday


The Tarka line runs for 39 miles (63km) between Exeter and Barnstaple

A branch line in Devon which was closed because of flooding is expected to reopen by Monday.

The train service between Barnstaple and Crediton, which is part of the Tarka Line, was expected to reopen on Saturday.

Network Rail said two bridges had to be inspected by specialist divers before the stretch of line could be reopened.

The section has been closed since December's heavy rain which caused flooding across England.

The Tarka line runs for 39 miles (63km) between Exeter and Barnstaple.

Trains between Exeter St David's and Crediton are running.

In Cornwall, the Liskeard to Looe line, which had also been shut at Christmas following flooding, reopened on Tuesday.