Okehampton railway station
Okehampton 
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Jul2005.jpg) |
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| Location | |
| Place | Okehampton |
| Local authority | West Devon, Devon |
| Coordinates | 50°43′57″N 3°59′47″W / 50.73244°N 3.99632°WCoordinates: 50°43′57″N 3°59′47″W / 50.73244°N 3.99632°W |
| Grid reference | SX592944 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | OKE |
| Number of platforms | 2 |
| Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries |
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| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2011/12 |
 3,526 |
| 2012/13 |
3,438 |
| 2013/14 |
3,208 |
| 2014/15 |
2,984 |
| 2015/16 |
 3,036 |
| History | |
| Original company | London and South Western Railway |
| Post-grouping | Southern Railway |
| 1871 | Opened |
| 1972 | Closed |
| 1997 | Re-opened |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Okehampton from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
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Okehampton railway station is a railway station serving the town of Okehampton in Devon, England. Heritage train services currently operate on certain weekdays, weekends and bank holidays. A service from Exeter operates on summer Sundays as part of the Dartmoor Sunday Rover network.
The station was opened in 1871 when the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) extended its line from Sampford Courtenay. Services were extended further west to Lydford railway station with the inauguration of Meldon Viaduct in 1874. Constructed to rival the South Devon Railway route to Plymouth, the completion of the LSWR's own route to Plymouth saw Okehampton become an important junction with lines to Padstow and Bude as well as Plymouth. Boat trains carrying passengers from ocean liners calling at Stonehouse Pool, Plymouth and prestige services such as the Atlantic Coast Express and Devon Belle all used the route.
With the publication of the Beeching Report in 1963, the line to Bude was put forward for closure as was part of the Exeter to Plymouth Line which was to be cut back to Okehampton. This was regarded as somewhat of a miraculous survival for Okehampton by the local press; as The Western Times & Gazette of 11 April 1963 put it: "[n]ot many small Devon towns can congratulate themselves on the way they have fared in the Beeching Plan, but Okehampton, with a falling population well under 4,000, is one of them." Its survival prompted questions as to why the line should remain open when others, such as the Avocet Line which saw far more traffic, were proposed for closure. It was said that at the time Okehampton had about 50 regular users per day and a handful of season ticket holders.
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