Over the last few months, the group – which are working in conjunction with OkeRail Community Interest Company to reopen a regular rail service from Okehampton to Exeter St Davids – has started to make strides after been set up by Richard Wolfenden-Brown following the conclusion of Bude Youth Theatre’s production ‘The Last Train to Bude…?’ last March.
Just for a bit of fun, Mr Wolfenden-Brown decided to ask members whether they’d be interested in the rail service being re-introduced in the town by holding a ‘referendum’.
Every single member said yes, leaving Mr Wolfenden-Brown to organise a public meeting in the Parkhouse Centre, which saw over 150 people turn up.
Since then the group has been busy drawing up plans of how to take things forward.
They now hold regular meetings at the Falcon Hotel in the town, and have got the support of OkeRail with members of each group supporting each other at their meetings.
In addition, Bude-Stratton Town Council has set up a sub-committee entitled ‘Rail Reinstatement Working Group’ while a special train has been organised to run from Okehampton directly to London Paddington.
Their goals are to:
1. Campaign to reconnect Bude and Holsworthy to the National Rail Network, initially via Okehampton.
2. Promote an improved rail service between Okehampton and Exeter and beyond.
3. Ensure the track bed of the former railway is protected against further development.
4. Garner the widespread community support of individuals, elected representatives and businesses in order to achieve the first three objectives.
Mr Wolfenden-Brown knows there’s much to be done, but believes that anything is possible.
He said: “I’m a great believer in democracy. If enough people want it to happen then it can happen and it should.
“At the moment it takes about two hours for someone from Bude to leave their house and get on a train at Exeter St Davids once you take into account getting there, getting tickets, traffic and all the rest of it. Being able to get a train from Okehampton will reduce so much time and stress and make everything so much easier for the people of North Cornwall and North Devon.
“Now for us it’s all about getting as much public support support as we can through elected individuals, local businesses and important individuals to make ourselves heard even more.”
OkeRail’s chairman, Dr Michael Ireland, was also in attendance, and had some strong words on why the line needs to be opened and the reasoning behind laying on the special train, which has seen them loaned a significant sum of money, that they will aim to pay back through the train tickets.
Dr Ireland said: “The aim of OkeRail is to work with other community groups to re-establish the line from Okehampton to Exeter St Davids on a seven days a week and secondly to improve the public transport connection to Holsworthy and Bude.
“The intention of running the special train on March 18 is to to make an affordable day out for the community. It gives an opportunity for young people and families who may never have been on a train before the experience, while the wider goal is to show the economic and social value of improving connectivity to West Devon and North Cornwall.”
Over the last few years a Sunday Rover service has run from Okehampton, which has been a resounding success.
According to OkeRail surveys, two thirds of all people using the line came from Okehampton with 94% boarding at Okehampton and 95% getting off there while there are 1,400 scheduled new homes to be built in the town. But with job opportunities low in the area, many will look to Exeter to income, making the train service an even more viable option.
While the government are spending £900-million on Reading Station and £800-million on redevelopments at Waterloo Station in London, Okerail estimate it would cost just £1-million for the installation of road layby and bus stop, car drop off point and disabled access, to complement the park and ride area south of the rail lines while there would also be room for 200 spaces in the Park and Ride area, spaces for HGV parking and bus and coach parking for the town bus and tourist coach use.
All of this would be at Hameldown Road, near the recycling centre, and director of OkeRail CIC, Bob Rush said: It’s an absolute no-brainer. Everybody argues that the line should be put back now. The Sunday Rover scheme has been a massive success and if it comes in 50% of people would be off the roads and onto the rail and straight into the city centre for work, instead of spending time stuck in cars.”
There were also local groups there. The Peninsula Rail Group, represented by chairman Richard Seawright, are also desperate to get a train service running from Tavistock to both Okehampton and Plymouth, to give over 100,000 people the chance to improve the way they travel while the Dartmoor Railway Supporters Association were represented by Christine and Geoffrey Horner.
Mr Seawright said: “A railway between Okehampton and Exeter puts a huge slice of the population within 15 minutes of the railway service while it’ll also help massively with tourism in Dartmoor but it’s absolutely crucial for the reason as well as being cheap and easy to do. The track is already in place.
But what do the public want to see?
Bude resident Malcolm Mitchell is desperate for the rail service to be introduced, saying: “Hundreds of people who work in Exeter have to commute from North Cornwall every day and have to put up with the horrendous jams at Marsh Barton just to get into work in the morning and the rail service would alleviate that.
“The people of North Cornwall and Mid-Devon deserve a rail service, something we’ve had to go without for 50 years and it can be done for just a small fraction of other stations being done up such as Reading.”
Crackington Haven resident Annabel Yates was there on behalf of Conservative North Cornwall MP Scott Mann, and Mr Mann like so many, is firmly behind the idea.
Ms Yates said: “Scott will do everything he can to help. He’s looking to do the Royal Oak (Special Train) journey to London on March 18 because he’s very supportive of this initiative.
“On a personal note this frustrates me very deeply. Reinstating the line could serve over £100,000 people, In our area we are almost permanently cut off and that needs to change. It takes nearly two hours for us to get on the train from our house and that’s not on.
Ms Barnes’ neighbour, Paul Seez, was also in attendance and says that he can’t see a downside.
Mr Seez said: “I think it’s an absolutely fantastic idea and I’d love to see it in my lifetime. It’d save us having to drive to Exeter all the time. Usually when we go somewhere further afield we get the train from Exeter but it uses up a lot of fuel and time. To be able to drive about 35 minutes to Okehampton would make life so much easier.”
For further information on how to get involved with Connect Bude, contact Richard Wolfenden-Brown on 01288 356537 or via email at [email protected], while to book your tickets for the train to London from Okehampton, visit www.ticketsource.co.uk/date/341176
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