Tavistock gets ready to rejoin the network

1972 - old rails and a southern green sign - and no trains to Callington!


1972 - Bere Alston.


1972 - the current branch destination, Gunnislake.


1973 - Bow station on the section towards Exeter.

There is a real buzz in Tavistock as reinstatement of their railway, closed 40 years ago, comes even closer to fruition. The deal is that 750 homes get built alongside the line with the route reinstated back to Bere Alston. The cost is a mere £18.5 million, and much of this is for legal arrangements etc. The actual cost of physical restoration of the line is a good deal lower. The road from Tavistock down to Plymouth is a nightmare in the rush hour, this really is a no-brainer.

Of course the route never should have closed in the first place. As well as serving both Tavistock and Okehampton the Plymouth-Exeter line was very useful as a diversionary route when the vulnerable coastal route between Dawlish and Teignouth was blocked. This is now a regular occurence with sea level rise. When the route is blocked then most of Devon and Cornwall is cut off from the rest of the country. The closure was also particularly stupid as much of the line remained in any case - the stretch from Plymouth to Bere Alston for the Gunnislake trains, and the stretch from Crediton to Okehampton for passengers trains (to 1972, since reinstated) and beyond to Meldon for freight. What were they thinking of? And why cut Tavistock off just for the sake of a few miles?

Of course with Tavistock in the bag talk is now of rebuilding the whole route. I suspect that within ten years serious consideration will also be given to restoring the Teign Valley route (Exeter to Newton Abbot) to provide yet another alternative to the coastal route. This route is hardly likely to be able to cope with future traffic even WITHOUT Peak Oil - with most of us forced out of our cars within the next ten years it can't come a minute too soon!

And how long before Bude, Padstow, Bideford and Ilfracombe are clamouring for the return of their trains?