GWR's new mini documentary reveals what it really took to open Okehampton Interchange

Great Western Railway has launched a new four-part documentary series, Beyond the Journey, taking viewers behind the scenes of some of the railway's highest-pressure days, starting with the final 24 hours before Okehampton Interchange opened to the public.

The Moorlander was there too. Reporter Jamie Townsend attended the press and preview day at the station, the same day captured in the opening episode of GWR's new series, produced in partnership with production company So-Motive.

The first episode follows GWR's Head of Third Party Delivery, Ian Mundy, alongside colleagues from Network Rail and Devon County Council, through the final hours before the station's public opening. Much of the episode centres on Charlotte Wheaton, the GWR Project Manager who oversaw delivery of the Okehampton Interchange project, capturing the last checks, final touches and nervous excitement of a team about to open a station to the public for the first time.

The film also features Sue and Tom, two longstanding station volunteers whose work looking after Okehampton station predates the wider Interchange project, credited elsewhere in the documentary with helping the station earn recognition as one of the cleanest on the network. Their involvement forms part of the episode's wider message: that a station, however large the engineering project behind it, ultimately belongs to the community it serves.

Among those present on the preview day was Tim Steer, regional branch chair for Devon and Cornwall at Railfuture, the independent campaign group for passenger rail.

Mr Steer was introduced to Charlotte Wheaton by Ian Mundy during the visit, a meeting between the campaigner who had long pushed for the station's return and the project manager who had delivered it.

Reflecting on the meeting, Mr Steer said: "So it's a great, you know, working relationship to get that kind of extra dimension that we weren't getting before."

Okehampton Interchange's opening forms the first of four episodes in the Beyond the Journey series. Later episodes, released weekly, will follow GWR's Customer Service and Events Manager for South Wales, Kay Davies, managing crowds during the FA Community Shield at Cardiff's Principality Stadium; Network Rail Track Maintenance Engineer Michael Payne, explaining how the railway copes with extreme heat; and GWR Duty Service Delivery Manager Amy Sansum, inside the joint GWR and Network Rail Control Room.

GWR's Head of External Communications, Dan Panes, said the series was designed to show the reality behind a normal working day on the railway. "We want people to see what a normal day actually looks like for us, the myriad of bits that join together and go right without anyone really noticing, and the moments where colleagues across the network, both at GWR, Network Rail and all our partners, must think on their feet," he said.

"The railway is about the people that make it work, but more than that, it is the sum of those moving parts, the vast majority unseen and unrecognised, that keeps millions of people moving every day. Every one of those people matters beyond the journey, helping to connect people to jobs, to family, and to the local shops and businesses that shape the economies we serve."

Toby Elliott, Head of Communications for Network Rail's Great Western Route, said the series offered a rare look at work usually hidden from passengers. "There's an enormous amount of work that goes into running a safe and reliable railway, and much of that work is unseen by the wider public," he said. "This series is a great opportunity to introduce audiences to some of those people who take viewers behind the scenes and provide a rare glimpse into what it takes to keep trains running. We hope Beyond the Journey gives people a fascinating insight into the expertise, commitment and dedication that make every journey possible."

So-Motive director Ian Yarwood said filming the series had changed his own view of the railway. "Having the opportunity to meet so many frontline workers across a variety of roles has been incredibly eye-opening and has given us, as a team, a completely different perspective on train travel and the people who make it all possible," he said. "That is exactly what we hope to do at So-Motive: shine a light on the people, stories and roles that might otherwise go unseen, and give them the recognition and appreciation they deserve."

All four episodes of Beyond the Journey are being released weekly on YouTube and across GWR's social media channels, with the first episode available to watch now.