RAIL REOPENINGS
Return to Tavistock
After the Exeter to Okehampton route rejoined the passenger network at the end of last year, attention is turning to reconnecting Tavistock with Plymouth as a stepping stone to full reopening of the former LSWR inland route around the top of Dartmoor, as John Heaton FCILT reports.
The appropriately named ‘West Country’ No. 34011 Tavistock leaves Tavistock North with an up service on July 17, 1962. This loco was withdrawn at the end of 1963 and scrapped the following year.
COLOUR-RAIL
In a similar view to the above shot, this is Tavistock North station as it looks today. Although the station building and down platform remains largely intact (left), new housing has been built on the trackbed and site of the up platform. All present day photos taken on June 24, 2021 by DAVID NORTHEY
THE restoration of rail services between Plymouth and Tavistock (which last ran in May 1968, see panel) is currently the subject of Restoring Your Railway Ideas Funding, with a view to building a solid business case. It is hoped this will then attract further finance from the Department for Transport, local authorities, and the possible bonus of a Town & Country Planning Act 1990 ‘Section 106’ subvention. This clause requires housing development promoters to help enhance local infrastructure, which could run into multi-millions of pounds.
The locally-focused team responsible for achieving the Exeter-Okehampton reopening on time and within budget is now applying its expertise to the Tavistock opportunity. Great Western’s head of service development Matthew Barnes and Network Rail’s South West senior strategic planner David Northey outlined the way in which Devon County Council’s aspirations had matured into a fullblown investment scheme beyond the capacity of one local authority.