Okehampton

[whole diary]

[RailCornwall]

Did we ever identify what track changes are being done to enable the hourly each direction service? I think we had lots of best guesses but nothing definite

[REVUpminster]

Did we ever identify what track changes are being done to enable the hourly each direction service? I think we had lots of best guesses but nothing definite

No track changes. Just upgrading the linespeed and looking at that cab ride it needs it between Crediton and Coleford.

In an ideal world the points at Crediton would be moved to Coleford to make a double track section.

Again from that cab ride double tracking other sections would cost a fortune.

[Red Squirrel]

HOURLY TIMETABLE START CONFIRMED

The hourly service on The Dartmoor Line will commence Sunday 15th May.

The service, despite being 2 hourly to begin with, has been a big success with usage far exceeding expectations. The hourly service will give customers a better choice for their journeys. The belief is, this will give another boost to the usage of the service.

Before the hourly service commences, there will be essential maintenance on the line resulting in the line closing for two weeks. Bus replacement to Crediton will be available during this time. We will post a reminder nearer the time.

Source: Okerail

[TonyK]

Lovely! I hadn't realised there was such a restricted way out from that side of EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains).

All the through platforms are bi-directional so all movements are possible. the train was leaving platform 3 which is in effect the northbound local. Platforms 1 and 3 can also hold two separate trains ie The platforms could have a SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) train and the Paignton-Exmouth local could still reverse.

It wasn't that, but the way the outbound train seemed to hold up the inbound that struck me as a bit limiting.

[REVUpminster]

Lovely! I hadn't realised there was such a restricted way out from that side of EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains).

All the through platforms are bi-directional so all movements are possible. the train was leaving platform 3 which is in effect the northbound local. Platforms 1 and 3 can also hold two separate trains ie The platforms could have a SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) train and the Paignton-Exmouth local could still reverse.

It wasn't that, but the way the outbound train seemed to hold up the inbound that struck me as a bit limiting.

The only way out of that is to build a local flyover. There is space using New Yard and the long shunt line that nearly reaches Cowley Bridge to take a track over the main line. It would be very expensive. Getting rid of Red Cow level crossing might be cheaper to increase line speeds.

[stuving]

The only way out of that is to build a local flyover. There is space using New Yard and the long shunt line that nearly reaches Cowley Bridge to take a track over the main line. It would be very expensive. Getting rid of Red Cow level crossing might be cheaper to increase line speeds.

Are there really enough trains needing to cross sides to justify that? Hardly - even Paddington has made do without a flyover so far. There, a couple of extra lines from Ladbroke Grove inwards allow for paths to be plaited. So for Exeter one extra line should suffice, and as you say that exists in New Yard with a bit of rejigging.

[TonyK]

Are there really enough trains needing to cross sides to justify that? Hardly - even Paddington has made do without a flyover so far. There, a couple of extra lines from Ladbroke Grove inwards allow for paths to be plaited. So for Exeter one extra line should suffice, and as you say that exists in New Yard with a bit of rejigging.

I thought a bit of rejigging would suffice to avoid inbound trains having to wait for outbounds to clear the stretch of line. It would cost money and I don't know how big an issue it is, although I have noticed a tendency for the train I am waiting for at Tiverton Parkway to lose time at Exeter, having kept bang on time from Plymouth.

[RailCornwall]

For clarification I presume the 'passing loop' will be at Crediton Station then, albeit hardly central to the route length.

[stuving]

A press release from Network Rail:

Dartmoor Line set for upgrade work in preparation for start of hourly services

Network Rail is set to begin 15 days of engineering upgrades on the Dartmoor Line in preparation for the introduction of hourly services.

Next week, from Monday 25 April until the early hours of Tuesday 10 May, Network Rail engineers will be upgrading parts of the 14-mile stretch of Dartmoor Line which currently carries two-hourly Great Western Railway (GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)) passenger services between Okehampton and Exeter.

Along the Dartmoor Line, at Fatherford and Coleford, engineers will be further improving the drainage and track bed to enable faster line speeds ready for the increase to hourly services from mid-May.

These latest upgrades form part of the second stage of the Dartmoor Line reopening, building upon the reintroduction of regular passenger services last year to now delivering an hourly service.

While this engineering work is ongoing, a reduced train service will continue to operate between Exeter and Crediton with a rail replacement bus service in operation between Crediton and Okehampton. Trains services on the Tarka^▸ (Line from Barnstaple to Exeter) Line between Exeter and Barnstaple will continue to run as usual. Two-hourly train services to Okehampton will resume from Tuesday 10 May, with hourly services starting from Sunday 15 May...

[GBM]

Why couldn't this have been done before the line was opened?

[ellendune]

Why couldn't this have been done before the line was opened?

Because then it might never have reopened?

[infoman]

Small item at the end of the local news on the works, on BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) spotlight news at 06:25am on Thursday.

[REVUpminster]

https://twitter.com/networkrailwest

Puzzle?? Renewing track and drainage in the Fatherford area; I thought this had been done in the recent record breaking track renewal.

This answers my own question.

https://www.dartmoor-railway-association.org/comingsgoings

Don't think this will be ever double track again.

[Mark A]

https://twitter.com/networkrailwest

Puzzle?? Renewing track and drainage in the Fatherford area; I thought this had been done in the recent record breaking track renewal.

Awkward that track laid in 2021 has had to be lifted and relayed just a year later.

Off-topic: the Borders Railway. Here's a Google Streetview from 2011, south through Tynehead cutting, on the final few miles of the climb to the summit at Falahill. The trackbed then, a lake or a swamp - in both directions. A current view would show that the out-of-use old bridge is now gone, having been replaced with a new structure on the alignment of the embankment that then held water in that pond in the cutting. Down on the trackbed, the railway is back, and is double track at this point as it's within one of the line's dynamic loops - which ends on the far side of the bridge in the far distance, which is at the site of Tynehead Station in the far distance.

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.8276166,-2.9733668,3a,75y,139.89h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sMzbk6jeUNG3qRSUDr2iM-Q!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DMzbk6jeUNG3qRSUDr2iM-Q%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D154.67532%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e1

[TonyK]

Awkward that track laid in 2021 has had to be lifted and relayed just a year later.

I thought this was always the plan. I don't know why it wasn't all done at once, but someone will.