Tarka Line - Exeter to Barnstaple - services, passenger numbers, carriages, engineering works, incidents and events

[whole diary]

[gaf71]

How many people would actually bother to commute to London from Barny? 3? 4?

You'd be surprised I think, a lot travel monday, and return friday, but there are a few that do it more regularly.

[Henry]

 But could you justify the cost of running a train from Exeter at approx 04.00 to make up the return service.
 
 Considering the profit made by FGW^▸ (First Great Western) the cost is probably minimal, and in the ideal would it would probably happen.

[Feckham]

Hi

In reality, I could only ever see them re-introducing the "Milk/Mail train", if the likes of Royal Mail etc empowered FGW^▸ (First Great Western) with the early delivery to Barnstaple Mail Centre for re-distribution around North Devon.

As with all reality - this is not very likely to happen, as with mediums such as this forum etc, the number of physical letters being sent (excluding junk mail) has declined rapidly over the last 10 years and the A361 North Devon Link also introduced more options over the railway.

Fecks

[The Grecian]

I do like some of the 'knowledgeable' comments in that article. Granted the 142s are crummy compared to the 'luxury' of a 150, particularly on the Barny branch which can be a tad bouncy, but I fail to see how putting on 2 extra services is running it down...

Out of interest, has anyone ever seen a passenger use Newton St Cyres, Portsmouth Arms or Chapelton? I've used the line about 10 times (in summer) and I've never seen anyone there, although I know most trains don't stop there.

[devon_metro]

Newton St Cyres evening stops get used with a nearby pub.

[cereal_basher]

The only time I have been to Barnstaple someone got on at Portsmouth Arms.

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

they are doing alot of advertising on this line, including tarka walks i think the main problem with the line is the wait near barny to enter the single line section that you sometimes get.. 30 mins is the record for me

[Feckham]

Hi

I have indeed seen passengers at all three stations mentioned, predominantely the advertised services due to stop as opposed to the "request" stops.

Copplestone is also increasing in passenger numbers, I would suggest, with the new housing developments happening there.

they are doing alot of advertising on this line, including tarka walks i think the main problem with the line is the wait near barny to enter the single line section that you sometimes get.. 30 mins is the record for me

On such a long wait I would assume was at Eggesford, as the last token section, and that the train from Barny was obviously delayed on its way up.  Same happens at Crediton in either direction, some timetables have an advertised wait there, (not quite long enough to use the very nice Cafe).  On the whole the waits are bearable even for regular passengers, but with only 2 passing loops available for the 39 miles of the route, its unavoidable if any services are delayed in either direction.

Fecks

[Tim]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Commuters in call for more trains

Commuters in north Devon have demanded more early and late trains on the Exeter to Barnstaple line.

The Tarka^▸ (Line from Barnstaple to Exeter) Line has hourly services to Exeter, but the earliest leaves Barnstaple at 0709.

Getting to London means changing at Exeter, which means the earliest commuters can get to London is 1130.

First Great Western, which operates the line, says it does not make any money from it and will need financial support from Devon County Council for changes.

Passenger numbers on the line have risen by 50% since 2001, to about 320,000 journeys a year.

But the Tarka Rail Association, which represents commuters, said commuters to London were not being given an adequate service.

Braunton-based businessman Tony Carter-Burns needs to travel to London for meetings. But he is so frustrated by the line's services that he regularly drives to Tiverton to get an earlier connection to London. He said: "I'd love to see an early train that would get me to London for 0900. "That would be fantastic, but right now it's a real pain."

Julian Crow, regional manager for First Great Western, said there were no plans for increased services to London, although a new early morning service was being considered for Plymouth. Any changes would be subject to funding from the county council. He said: "We have to talk to the county to see how affordable it would be."

They can actually get to London for 1125. Moaners 

Amusing too that you can't get to London from Tiverton until 0922 unless you leave at the crack of dawn!

The problem with using the branch for London-barney trips is that because you have to change at Exeter rather than Tiverton you end up travelling a long way round.

As for getting to London early - there is an excellent Barnstaple - Tiverton bus (115) which runs every hour with a 1hr 10 min journey time.  The earliest bus leaves at 6am.  However because it runs to Tiverton town rather than the parkway station and there is no usefully timed connection to Parkway (appart from a taxi) it is not possible to leave Barney at 6am and get to Tiverton Parkway in time to catch the 756 train to London which arrives at 1002 despite the bus getting to Tiverton Town at 710 which would give 46 minutes to get to parkway if only the timetables were better thought out.   A lack of integration leads to a poorer service than it could be and denies the residence of Barnstaple a full day in the capital without having to drive to the Parkway station.   How many cars are parked at Parkway for the 756 train?  How many of them are from Barnstaple?

[Andy]

Maybe the WSR will extend back to Barnstaple (hey a new phenomenon, "reopening by stealth") along the old Taunton-Barnstaple formation from Norton Fitzwarren, giving an interchange with the WSR and a direct Barnstaple-London route. 

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

Maybe the WSR will extend back to Barnstaple (hey a new phenomenon, "reopening by stealth") along the old Taunton-Barnstaple formation from Norton Fitzwarren, giving an interchange with the WSR and a direct Barnstaple-London route. 

we wish lol, i cant belive noone has brought up the reversal at e-s-d if a london to barny did run, unless it went via yeovil which has more problems

hehe the first swt service could start at barnstable and get there by 9 if your crazy enough to set out at 4?

[The Grecian]

Maybe the WSR will extend back to Barnstaple (hey a new phenomenon, "reopening by stealth") along the old Taunton-Barnstaple formation from Norton Fitzwarren, giving an interchange with the WSR and a direct Barnstaple-London route. 

we wish lol, i cant belive noone has brought up the reversal at e-s-d if a london to barny did run, unless it went via yeovil which has more problems

hehe the first swt service could start at barnstable and get there by 9 if your crazy enough to set out at 4?

Thanks for the replies. I think there was a service in the 1960s after Waterloo trains were terminated at ESD from 1964 which ran Paddington-Castle Cary-Yeovil PM-Yeovil Junc-Exeter St Davids-Okehampton-Bude. It didn't last for long though - much like the Bude branch sadly. Barnstaple also had direct Summer Saturday trains to both Waterloo and Paddington until about 1981. Again, being in my 20s I've only read this so I don't actually remember it.

While Taunton-Barnstaple won't re-open anytime soon, it would be nice if the Barny line could be upgraded a bit. If the crossings at Salmon Pool (north of Crediton), Eggesford (where trains seem to spend about 5-10 minutes most of the time when I've been there) and Umberleigh were automatised somehow, you could probably run a limited stop service in 45-50 minutes. But the chances of that happening are pretty negligible.

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

actually thinking about it, maybe it isn't so silly ... the first swt service leaves exeter at just after 5 and gets to london at around 850.... i would imagine it could start at barnstable and run express to exeter st davids at that time of the morning quite quickly, it would need alot of users to justify the fuel and staffing costs just for one station but if the demand is there as suggested in this forum it could work what do you guys think?

[devon_metro]

Silly idea. People don't want to stop at such absurd places as Pinhoe, Whimple etc on their way to London.

The train would need to be:
0415 Barnstaple - London Waterloo Calling:
Barnstaple, Eggesford, Crediton, Exeter SD, Central, Pinhoe, Whimple, Feniton, Honiton, Axminster, Crewkerne, Yeovil, Sherborne, Templecombe, Gillingham, Tisbury, Salisbury, Grately, Andover, Whitchurch, Overton, Basingstoke, Woking and London Waterloo
arrive 0846 journey time 4h31
trolley service, first class, no power sockets

Alternatively
0555 Barnstaple - Exeter St Davids Calling:
Barnstaple, Eggesford, Crediton, Exeter St Davids
CHANGE
0655 Exeter St Davids - London Paddington Calling:
Taunton, Reading, London Paddington 
arrive 0900 journey time 3h5
travelling chef "select", first class, power sockets all round

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

bearing in mind not everyone wants to go first class and if they do its there! and i did say forget Eggesford, Crediton  i think your looking at a journey time of more like 4 hours and ten mins if you can do barnstable-exeter none stop in 30 mins there are power sockets on these units even in standard, the only issue is the trolly which i have never seen on a swt service but its in the timetable book so hey