Return of Bideford to Barnstaple railway ‘could be at least 13 years away’

“Hoops, hurdles and elephant traps” aplenty have to be overcome to see a Bideford to Barnstaple rail link reinstated and that could be at least 13 years away, Torridge councillors heard this week.

A meeting of the district council’s external overview and scrutiny committee was told that three business cases costing many millions of pounds needed to be completed for the government to consider bringing the line back and at any point a red flag would cause it to fail.

But campaign group Railfuture has been encouraged by Network Rail, placing Bideford second out of 23 station locations in the west that meet initial criteria for reinstatement and is one of five case studies that is being explored further.

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Roger Blake, Railfuture’s infrastructure and networks director, said without a doubt the number one question raised by people was what would happen to the Tarka Trail, used by around 600,000 people each year, which runs along part of the trackbed of what was the London and South Western Railway.

He told the meeting that there was “absolutely no interest” in damaging the Tarka Trail as an active travel route and the two things could run in tandem so people could walk, cycle or get the train ‘unhindered’ between Bideford and Barnstaple. It may, however, mean some of the route being diverted.

Mr Blake said they were ‘two business cases away’ from doing a detailed design and there were major challenges to overcome not least that there was a major sewerage network that had been built under the trackbed since it was decommissioned.

The build itself would take three years but the preparatory paperwork, investigations and studies would take at least 10, he said.

At the meeting he said: “There are engineering challenges, some easy, some harder and multiple stages to go through if this thing is to progress to see the light of day and at any point it can get a red flag and everything will stop.

“We have not had any red flags so far and the next step is to put together a Department of Transport compliant strategic business case, the first of three business cases.”

The first business case would cost a six figure sum, the second a seven figure some and the third an eight figure sum, he said.

He added: “We need to do these as an entry ticket into the rail network enhanced pipeline process. The field we are tentatively playing in is littered with hoops, hurdles and elephant traps all over the place.”

The meeting heard that there was an increasing interest in rail travel and the Tarka Line between Barnstaple and Exeter recorded its best ever passenger in every month of last year.

Upgrades to the line to improve its resilience and increase the frequency of trains and numbers of carriages remains the number one priority of Railfuture’s work in North Devon.

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Councillor Claire Hodson, who represents Westward Ho! said she was concerned about the cost being “astronomical” to reinstate the Bideford link as it would mean diverting pipework.

She highlighted the challenges of dealing with South West Water, which was already “struggling to keep the books in order” with all the issues with sewage overflows and water quality, and the Environment Agency regarding flood protection.

She said: “These are two very key bodies that could influence your project. Personally the idea pootling along there on a train is wonderful but there are too many buts at the moment.”

She said she had old film of her grandparents arriving in Bideford by steam train but said the romantic image was part of the town’s history and she added: “I don’t know if it’s part of our future.”

Cllr Huw Thomas for Bideford East said the beauty of the Tarka Trail was that it was a traffic free route and having a train alongside could spoil that.

He added that he could not see how it would work in the Instow area as it would mean shutting roads and trying to get permission from the Ministry of Defence.

Other councillors praised Mr Blake and Devon and Cornwall Railfuture branch chair Tim Steer for their work in getting the rail link project as far as the preliminary business case.

Torridge District Council is one body which has put cash into investigating the economic impacts of the line thus far.

Mr Blake said he did not know who had “a pocket deep enough” to fund the project at this stage but added that the Okehampton to Exeter line had proved that train travel was viable.

Passenger services resumed there in 2021 after a 50-year break and did not require public subsidy after just two years of operation as it was covering its operating costs.

He said: “Okehampton’s population is a third of the population of the greater Bideford area.

“If this was a no hoper, we would have told you to keep your money in your pocket, there is a genuine sense of relief among more and more people that these challenges can be overcome.”