Okehampton

[whole diary]

[REVUpminster]

Don't know many builders that supply the materials before they know if they are getting paid.

[RichardB]

Don't know many builders that supply the materials before they know if they are getting paid.

It's not a case of that.  Network Rail have clearly bought the materials - if it came to it (and let's face it, right now this really doesn't look like it is going to happen), they would be moved for use elsewhere.

[REVUpminster]

Delivered another trainload of ballast Tuesday night, returned Wednesday morning.

Sale or return!!!  picture from facebook.

Empty Ballast train coming from Okehampton. 10 March 2021 by Robert, on Flickr

[paul7575]

Don't know many builders that supply the materials before they know if they are getting paid.

It's not a case of that.  Network Rail have clearly bought the materials - if it came to it (and let's face it, right now this really doesn't look like it is going to happen), they would be moved for use elsewhere.

I think it’s also relevant that Network Rail (NR^» (Network Rail - home page)) continually buy ballast in vast quantities and maintain their own stockpiles at various locations around the country known as “virtual quarries”, so I suspect the delivery of ballast for a specific job just becomes an internal paper transfer.  It might just be a consumable item, depending on the amount needed for particular job.



Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronyms - 08:46

[REVUpminster]

Two engineering trains, one last night, one tonight taking more sleepers up to Okehampton or a site between.

[RichardB]

And it's now official.  The Dartmoor Line between Exeter and Okehampton will reopen to regular, year round trains before the end of the year.

Initially it will be a two hourly service but sometime in 2022, a full hourly service will be introduced.

We at the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership were asked to put together the project website on behalf of all the partners.  It has just now gone live and there is much more information there   https://dartmoorline.com/

You can expect much media coverage throughout Friday and beyond and a lot of social media too from Network Rail, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), ourselves (@dcrailpart) and many others.

A fabulous day!

[RichardB]

There's a good video about the reopening here on this Devon Live piece

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/dartmoor-rail-line-return-year-5194035

[Andy]

What fantastic news to wake up to this morning. Congratulations to all involved in this long-standing campaign. I hope that it will prove a resounding success and give more impetus to further developments in the region, notably reopening to Tavistock.

[infoman]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) spotlight local news are reporting the latest news,should be on again on the lunch time and evening news.

BBC breakfast news on friday(thats today) is reporting LIVE LIVE LIVE from Okehampton.

[bradshaw]

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) release
https://gwr-newsroom.prgloo.com/news/devon-communities-to-be-better-connected-as-railway-line-set-to-reopen-for-first-time-in-50-years
NR^» (Network Rail - home page) Twitter feed
https://twitter.com/networkrailwest/status/1372827518122782721?s=21

[Western Pathfinder]

Live on BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) breakfast as I type this.

[bradshaw]

From https://dartmoorline.com/
Running every two hours at first but plans for hourly service with infrastructure upgrades.
Will it be a passing loop or making the two single line back to double track as far as the junction?

2022 timetable
Additional infrastructure work will take place on the route to enable GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) to increase the service to hourly during 2022. More details will be published on this website when available. 

[stuving]

From https://dartmoorline.com/
Running every two hours at first but plans for hourly service with infrastructure upgrades.
Will it be a passing loop or making the two single line back to double track as far as the junction?

2022 timetable
Additional infrastructure work will take place on the route to enable GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) to increase the service to hourly during 2022. More details will be published on this website when available. 

Network Rail briefly announced the decision on line on Tuesday, and today have a longer piece with the mandatory quotes from usual suspects. On the technical side, that says:

Since the beginning of 2020, working in partnership with Great Western Railway (GWR), Network Rail has been carrying out detailed investigations to understand what infrastructure and railway control system improvements are needed to bring the Dartmoor Line up to the required standards to enable GWR to operate trains safely.

Now that the green light has been received and investigations have been completed, Network Rail engineers will start immediately to undertake a range of works including drainage, fencing and earthworks, and will lay over 11 miles of track, replace 24,000 concrete sleepers and install nearly 29,000 tonnes of ballast before running test trains on the track ahead of fully reopening the railway to passengers.

As part of these upgrades, improvements are also going to be made to Okehampton station including installing a ticket vending machine, Help Point, public address system, information screens, CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) and free WiFi. A ‘Pay & Display' car park will also be introduced with dedicated disabled bays, and the station building and platform will be fully accessible.

They provide a link to the Dartmoor Line site for more details, and that has the following answer to the above question:

Why is the line not being given an hourly train service from Day 1?

To bring the Dartmoor Line back into full operational use as quickly and safely as possible, a substantial amount of work needs to be carried out to the existing infrastructure.

Network Rail are focused on assessing and renewing the track, bridges and drainage to allow the line to re-open in 2021 with one train every two hours in service. Further work to upgrade the infrastructure will enable the line speed to be increased, permitting an hourly passenger service to start by summer 2022.

[TonyK]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) breakfast news on friday(thats today) is reporting LIVE LIVE LIVE from Okehampton.

Darn, I missed it! Absolutely excellent news, though.

From https://dartmoorline.com/
Running every two hours at first but plans for hourly service with infrastructure upgrades.
Will it be a passing loop or making the two single line back to double track as far as the junction?

2022 timetable
Additional infrastructure work will take place on the route to enable GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) to increase the service to hourly during 2022. More details will be published on this website when available. 

Once the line is up to standard, I would imagine a train could get from Crediton to Okehampton and back comfortably within the hour, even with a gap to fit into the current Barnstaple service. A passing loop would future proof it, but that isn't the NR^» (Network Rail - home page) way.

I would think the next campaign will be to reopen North Tawton station.

[Red Squirrel]

Fantastic news! More!