The North Devon (Tarka) Line runs as everyone knows between Exeter and Barnstaple, with hourly services provided by train operator GWR. The track and all other infrastructure is managed by Network Rail. No one would believe that a line that was managed by British Rail for decline in the post-Beeching era would become an outstanding success story. So much so that the passenger numbers would cause the services to become severely overcrowded and leave the operator facing very difficult challenges – especially how to provide urgently-needed additional capacity?
We all know that we need more modern trains that can cope with booming demand! The ‘Coradia’ Class 175 trains will be in operation on the North Devon Line but not for some months, yet will they be able to handle the demand? At present GWR has said that if all the Exeter students caught the same morning train leaving Barnstaple then they would need a nine-carriage train to cope! The line is experiencing suppressed demand, a term that explains the line is so busy that customers are choosing not even to try using the service. This of course drives up private vehicle usage, meaning more congestion – and potholes! In the longer-term GWR will have implemented its ‘Green Railways For Growth’ programme that will deliver Battery Electric Multiple Units to serve the lines of Devon and Cornwall instead of our current decades-old diesels.
Since the formation of the Northern Devon Railway Development Alliance in late-2023 two Preliminary Strategic Business Cases (PSBC) have been written by a highly-qualified member. One PSBC is for the North Devon Line modernisation (for twice-hourly and faster journeys, and across Exeter to Digby & Sowton) and the other is for the extension of services to Bideford. Both schemes must follow the Department for Transport’s Transport Appraisal Guidance that stipulates that these transport projects must be referenced in the statutory transport authority’s Local Transport Plan or they will not be able to progress into the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline. Network Rail have also recently published “Transforming the North Devon Line – a summary of potential infrastructure enhancements.” Devon County Council had a public consultation in 2025 and a majority wrote in to show support for the line modernisation and the extension. This means that each scheme now requires a Strategic Outline Business Case to be funded, to develop why we are doing this, before the Outline Business Case starts to design engineering solutions.
The Tarka Trail uses the old rail route between Barnstaple and Bideford and is owned by Devon County Council who bought the old trackbed in the 1980’s and converted it into the cycle and footpath. This trail is well-used by walkers and cyclists and is unbroken apart from the road crossing at Instow. Part of the underside of the Tarka Trail is used by South West Water as their main riser to take away waste water from North Devon to the Cornborough Cliffs of Torridge; thousands of their customers use it. It’s a dual-use system and as more large-scale development is plumbed into the main riser and the Yelland Quay development changes a part of the cycle-path, we begin to see that the Tarka Trail is already being altered well before the possible return of a railway.
No-one can yet say what the engineered solution will be for the Bideford rail extension, but no-one has said that the Tarka Trail will be removed although some commentators have, without evidence, assumed it. No local transport or higher authority will be party to the loss or severance of a continuous active travel amenity. An engineering solution will only emerge at the later Outline Business Case stage. Meanwhile speculative conclusions are best suspended.
