Just to clarify, posting on the Tarka^▸ (Line from Barnstaple to Exeter) Rail site was delayed until all the relevant information as below was made available.

The offer runs from Saturday 22nd October until Monday 17th April 2017. It applies to all morning trains to Barnstaple up to and including the 12.27 from St Davids (or equivalent from Topsham, Digby, Central etc) and up to 11.59 on Sundays. It applies to/from all stations on the Tarka Line and no Groupsave or railcard discounts will apply.

Normally a reader rather than a contributor, I felt it necessary to comment on certain points raised on this subject. The mini posters put up a stations on the Tarka^▸ (Line from Barnstaple to Exeter) line were not meant to be a definitive statement as to which set would be used on the tour, although we were hopeful that it would be the green set, considering GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s involvement, simply a way to advise people of the timings.

Unfortunately, with all the preparations that were necessary prior to the tour the TRA missed updating the website but did endeavour to fully publicise the event locally via press releases and radio interviews. We are pleased that so many people turned out for such a unique event, and we found it a really successful day. Hopefully to be repeated at some future date.

Press release from the Tarka^▸ (Line from Barnstaple to Exeter) Rail Association:

RELIEF IN SIGHT ON ^FULL & STANDING^ TRAINS

Regular users of two of the most heavily used Tarka Line services between Exeter and Barnstaple can soon breath a sigh of relief.Starting on December 16, the 07:00 southbound departure from Barnstaple (dep. Umberleigh 07:09,Eggesford 07:30; Copplestone 07:43, Crediton 07:55) will carry an additional coach providing over 70 extra seats.

The notoriously overcrowded 16:57 northbound departure from Exeter St. David^s will
also be strengthened with additional rolling stock.

In making the announcement Tarka Rail Association (TRA) chairman, John Phillips, noted that several organisations have had a hand in addressing the problem. ^It^s not a simple matter of saying ^why don^t they just put on more coaches^ he explained. ^The fact of the matter is there are no more coaches! And there won^t be for another two or three years, when electification on other parts of the rail network frees up additional diesel rolling stock for the South-West.

First Great Western, the current franchise holder, has done wonders with the limited equipment that the Department for Transport makes available to them. Finding these additional coaches is no small achievement, but the result of innovative scheduling and the fine-tuning of complex service rotas.^

John also credited his Devon County Council and the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership colleagues for their ^polite persistence^ in insisting that some way had be found to provide a measure of relief to the Tarka Line^s fare-paying passengers, and for the Partnership in particular for negotiating the use of the extra coach on the morning train.

CONTACTS
Peter Craske, TRA Press Officer                    01837-849071
pcbcraske@gmail.com

John Phillips, TRA Chairman                        01363-84221
j.phillips142@btinternet.com

Great news, and a fitting reward for someone who has worked tirelessly for rail in the South West. He has provided unstinting support for all the organisations and user groups involved with developing rail services in the area, as well a being the calm voice of reason when frequently placed in front of the camera after things have gone wrong.A well deserved honour.

Thanks for the update - now things can get moving!

As regards the Tarka^▸ (Line from Barnstaple to Exeter) Line, and the unfinished work, the suggestion was for a four day extension, which will  be dependent upon the reinstatement of the damaged track on the branch at Cowley Bridge (assuming the concentration has been on the main line). This will allow the two 66's currently sitting on the branch (one at Portsmouth Arms and one at Eggesford) to access Riverside Yard for a further ballast train, and will also release  a 143 currently (or was until recently) sitting outside Crediton.

Once all this happens then work can resume, and the bus shuttle will revert to Barnstaple to Crediton with passengers transferring to the train.

All this depends on the ability to run over the repaired branch at Cowley Bridge.

Umberleigh now has the highest footfall of any of the request stops along the line (that is all stations except Eggesford and Crediton), and it is not unusual to find all the parking spaces filled. This is a far cry from the dark, muddy, potholed area that used to be the carpark until a few years ago

Eggesford suffers from the lack of a proper carpark, hence the parking along the road to Wembworthy, but there are tentative plans to remedy this situation.

Apologies to John R and anyone else checking out www.tarkarail.org for the missing 2012 figures, these are now available on the news page.

If one looks at the context instead of just the bare figures for Lapford, the slight variation in relatively small footfall figures over the years may be understandable.

The station only has 4/5 services a day out of 14 each way serving the line, which are early morning and in the evening.(check out timetable 34 on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website)

The access to the station is extremely dangerous for pedestrians and virtually impossible by car.

The village itself is around a kilometre away, with the walking route crossing a busy road with no footpath

The local bus company provides 11 services a day to and from Exeter (until late afternoon), though none northwards towards Barnstaple.

Main usage is by passengers commuting to and from Exeter, and the figures year on year are likely to by affected by job losses in the current financial climate, and the variable number of college students starting/finishing courses.

Differences in footfall between years amount to only 3-4 passengers per week except for the last set of figures where the increase is an average of 9 passengers per week.

You have to realise that the 377 bus service (and many of the others) does not run in the evening or on Sundays, whereas the Tarka^▸ (Line from Barnstaple to Exeter) Line rail service is a seven day a week service running until at least 9 to 10pm (later on a Friday!).

Please note that the North Devon Rail Users Group (the long established organisation) was renamed the Tarka^▸ (Line from Barnstaple to Exeter) Rail Association in 2009, one of the reasons being that it attempts to represent all users of the line, not just those in North Devon.

Following on from previous comments, I thought I would check out the 'new improved' web site today, as it is the start of the new timetable, only to find that the previous timetables are still showing as the 'current' ones. What a poor state of affairs, when an organisation as large as FGW^▸ (First Great Western) cannot even get this right, let alone all the other failings of the site.

At a meeting of user groups and Devon County Council last night it was announced by FGW^▸ (First Great Western) that the last day of operation for 142's out of Exeter would be Sunday 27th November. Can I hear the sound of cheering?

Thanks for spotting the error John R, in the rush to beat the cut off date for responses this error was missed in the proof reading, it should read 1 hour 8 minutes, and an amended version will appear on the website in due course.

I would definitely suggest contacting Customer Services, they could be using up old stock, as the complimentaries I used last week had boxes for 2008,2009, and 2010. Mind you these were First Class ones, it may be different for Standard.