Passengers frustrated at flooded rail line issues in north Devon

Rail passengers and campaigners are calling for change amid a series of issues on a stretch of railway line in Devon.

Delays and cancellations of services, flooding, and overcrowding on the Tarka Line, between Barnstaple and Exeter, have frustrated rail users and campaigners.

Tim Steer, chair of Railfuture in Devon and Cornwall, said the various issues on the line in recent weeks were due to its “Victorian infrastructure”.

Network Rail said it was working with Great Western Railway (GWR) to “keep passengers on the move” with rail tickets usable on replacement buses. It said it would get services back up and running “as soon as possible”.

In recent days services have been suspended between Barnstaple and Crediton due to flooding.

Network Rail said in order for services to restart, specialist diving teams would need to inspect the structures when water levels subsided.

A spokesperson said it was “difficult to put a timescale on” when it would be able to complete the necessary inspections.

Conor Warren, from Ilfracombe and a business student at Exeter College, said his experience of getting the train over the last couple of months had been “a nightmare”.

He gets a bus from Ilfracombe to Barnstaple and then a train to Exeter, and vice versa on the way home.

“I’ve found with the delays, every time I’ve tried to get the train it’s either been cancelled or delayed, and with the delay the bus doesn’t line up and then I’m waiting another hour for the next bus.

“It’s every time I’ve travelled over the last couple of months it’s been a real big issue.”

Mr Warren said “on a good day” the journey from Ilfracombe to Exeter took about two hours. He said currently, it was taking between three and four hours each way.

“It’s actually quicker for me to get to London than it is for me to get to Ilfracombe…”

He said when he had managed to get on the train it was “overcrowded” and he had struggled to find a place to stand.

Mr Steer said recent issues with overcrowding on the line between north Devon and Exeter showed the line needed to be modernised.

He said: “They’re [GWR] going from one crippling challenge to the next, whether it’s the overcrowding from last week… to this week where the line is not even open, so this Victorian infrastructure needs to be addressed.”

Mr Steer said it was important to “raise the level of the profile” of the Tarka line, as investment was needed to prevent issues like this in the future.

A spokesperson for GWR said it was aware that some trains immediately before and after the start of the college day were in demand, and with non-Exeter College travellers using the route it was over capacity on some services during peak times.

It said over the last 12 weeks 95% of the almost 3,000 trains from Barnstaple had run, and of those 91% arrived within 10 mins.

It couldn’t run more trains because the branch line was at capacity and it couldn’t run longer trains because the platforms were not long enough, which was “a really expensive solution we would need funding for,” GWR said.

It said the short term solution was more trains and carriages with selective door opening and it hoped the introduction of Class 175 trains would help.

It added: “We are however supportive of campaigns to upgrade the infrastructure of the North Devon Line, with more passing loops and a better signalling system to allow improved performance and the aim of 30-minute frequency to Barnstaple.

“Network Rail are currently carrying out a feasibility study to understand the costs of this.”

Network Rail has been approached for comment on the infrastructure of the line.

David Northey, chair of the North Devon Line Rail Promotion Group, said the closure on the Tarka Line had a “significant impact” on communities in the region.

He said: “For many residents, the railway is not a luxury – it is an essential lifeline for work, education, healthcare and access to wider opportunities.”

Mr Northey said the disruption highlighted “the urgent need for sustained investment in the resilience of the route”.

Bryony Chetwode, secretary for Travelwatch SouthWest, said the disruption was “really serious”.

She said: “We’ve really wanted to achieve this shift to get kids on to the trains… so to suddenly not be able to get into college or not get into work is really, really major and important.

“We are looking at improvements at Okehampton, we’ve got the new station at Okehampton coming soon, and yet the infrastructure here hasn’t been sorted out.”