Barnstaple to Taunton Line

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are very few or no other articles that link to this one.
Please help introduce links in articles on related topics. After links have been created, remove this message.
This article has been tagged since August 2006.

The Barnstaple to Taunton Line of the Great Western Railway (GWR) ran between Barnstaple Junction on the LSWR route from Exeter in Devon to Norton Fizwarren in Somerset where it joined the main GWR route to London Paddington.

Many through trains ran from places all over the country, including Manchester Picadilly, Wolverhampton Low Level, Cardiff General and London Paddington.

1 History
2 Stations

[edit] History

The Barnstaple to Taunton line was first proposed by the Devon and Somerset Railway in the mid-19th century and received assent on 29 July 1864. However, work was not started until 1870 and a small 7 mi (11 km) section of the branch was opened by 8 June 1871, from Norton Fizwarren to Wiveliscombe on the edge of Exmoor. The 43 mile (69.2 km) line to Barnstaple was not completed until 1 November 1873. Throughout its length the line was cheaply built, with single track, steep gradients of up to 1 in 60, and poorly equipped stations. It was beset with financial problems and operating difficulties and was purchased by the Great Western Railway GWR in 1901.^{[citation needed]}

With the increase in people taking holidays during the 1930s, the line carried heavy weekend traffic, including through expresses to Ilfracombe. After World War II, falling passenger numbers, blamed on the increase in car traffic, made the line uneconomical. Following advice from the Beeching Report, during 1963 the decision was taken to route most trains via Exeter. The line closed on 3 October 1966. Some sections of the the former trackbed have been incorporated into the A361 trunk road and much of the rest has now almost completely disappeared.