Tarka Line improvements move to 'next phase' - but no timeline and no funding confirmed

Great Western Railway (GWR) and Network Rail are working together on plans for further improvements to the Tarka Line, the Gazette can reveal, but with no confirmed timeline, no funding secured, and the operator due to be nationalised in December, the path ahead remains uncertain.

The confirmation comes as rail campaign group Railfuture pointed to the launch of improved timetables on Cornwall's Newquay line as a model North Devon should follow. 

From Sunday May 17, services on the Atlantic Coast Line between Newquay and Par doubled to hourly as part of the Mid-Cornwall Metro project.

Railfuture's Devon and Cornwall chair Tim Steer said the project should inspire action closer to home, arguing that “route modernisation to enable faster and more frequent services would most probably have a similarly transformational effect for rail travellers, and the economic fortunes of the local communities served.”

It is a view echoed by Cllr Andrea Davis, a Devon County Council member and president of the North Devon Line Rail Group, who says they are the only rail user group on the line.

“With increasing movements from North Devon for education and healthcare, we know that improvements aren't desirable, they are essential,” she told the Gazette.

Cllr Davis said the line was “a vital link for residents and businesses in North Devon but also well used by people visiting our area,” adding that the group fully supported improvement in “resilience and capacity” on the route.

GWR told the Gazette it was working “closely together” with Network Rail on the project, with “shared ambitions for further improvements to the line.”

Following the publication of Network Rail's feasibility work earlier this year, the operator said it had “moved into the next phase, refining timetable options to better understand the infrastructure required.”

But it was candid about what still needs to happen. “No timeline has been confirmed at this stage, and securing funding will be essential to delivering the improvements we all want to see,” a spokesperson said.

The response made no reference to GWR's impending change in ownership. 

Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander has confirmed that GWR's contract with the Department for Transport will end on 13 December, when the operator moves into public ownership. What that means for ongoing projects such as the Tarka Line upgrade remains unclear.

Railfuture also argued that station improvements, Pay-As-You-Go ticketing and newer trains being introduced in Cornwall “should also be seen as motivational for routes elsewhere, in particular the Exeter to Barnstaple line in neighbouring Devon”, and separately noted the North Devon Line by name as a route that should be inspired by what is happening further west.

Cllr Davis and members of the North Devon Line Rail Group will be at Barnstaple station next Thursday, May 21 to promote the group and its work. 

The group has members of all ages and from all along the line, described by Cllr Davis as “a diverse group of local committed people.”