The South West of England, A Neglected Area For Railways

Photo: DS Pugh / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0

Article by Freddie Huxtable

There has been a lot of discussion and some action regarding the improvement to rail connectivity in the north of England. One area that regularly gets overlooked in my view is the South West; for this purpose read Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.

In the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries the counties were criss-crossed with railways. All that changed in 1963 when Dr Beeching published his infamous report “The Reshaping of British Railways”. Almost all branch lines in the area were proposed for closure and both Conservative and Labour governments followed through on the vast majority  of those recommendations.

However, we should not forget that railway closures had been going on for some years prior to Beeching. The Great Western Railway [GWR] carried out a branch line review in 1926, ear-marking 53 lines in total over their network for “efficiency savings”. In March 1956 the Princetown Branch was closed by BR, followed by the former GWR Launceston branch in December 1962.

The Beeching ‘axe’ (as it is colloquially known) fell to leave only the main line from Bristol to Taunton and Castle Cary to Taunton westwards and the branch from Castle Cary to Yeovil (and Weymouth). Devon retained the main line to Exeter along with the branches to Gunnislake, Exmouth and branch to Barnstaple; Bideford, Torrington and Ilfracombe at the end of that line was were cut off, The old LSWR* route to the west was down graded to largely single track from Salisbury to Exeter. West of Exeter the “Withered Arm” was decimated. Most heinous of all was the closure in 1968 of the former mainline from Exeter to Plymouth via Okehampton. This was an alternative route to the GWR main line and how this would have benefitted Plymouth and Cornwall following the recent closures of that GWR mainline at Dawlish if it had been retained. Cornwall fared little better with its branches but retained those to Looe, Newquay, Falmouth and St Ives-key holiday resorts.

Following Beeching there was even talk of closing all lines west of Plymouth on economic grounds! Thankfully that never happened. Indeed the closure trend of the 1960s and 1970s is reversing with the branch to Okehampton reopening in 2021 (and a new station on that line just opened called Okehampton Interchange). Passenger numbers exceeded expectations from the start and continue to grow. Consideration is being given to opening the line from Tavistock to Bere Alston (where the Gunnislake branch leaves the old main line)….this “consideration” has been going on too long. Also then closing the gap between Okehampton and Tavistock would reinstate the alternative main line and create a diversionary route. Bideford too is seeking and extension from Barnstaple.  

So what is the issue, well, money to start with. Boris Johnson’s “Restoring your Railway Fund” was a good idea. It was good policy and good politics which in turn would bring social, economic and environmental benefits to parts of the counties isolated from the network. Would it ever have had sufficient funds to make it work? The fund has now been scrapped so the point is academic.

Following on from money, a business case needs to be made to expand or reopen lines. This is of course right, but frequently this may be hard to prove and require a lot of preparatory work (and sunk costs on fees)-build it and they will come!.

Practically speaking it will be difficult to reopen some lines. Stations have been destroyed and houses, supermarkets or industrial estates built on old railway land be that station areas or track bed.

Despite the challenges, a long term strategy is need for the railways of the region-which lines can easily be reopened, cost effectively to derive benefit. New housing is burgeoning in many areas in outlying districts previously served by pre-Beeching stations. How do these people get to key centres such as Exeter and Plymouth; the roads are already overcrowded especially in the holiday season. We don’t need more cars when a train will do.

What about freight? There is one semi-regular train in the whole of the region. It transports china clay to Stoke on Trent. The South West would benefit from a freight hub-an intermodal terminal at, say, Plymouth or the old Tiverton Junction site (just off the M5) to distribute locally in Devon and Cornwall. Is this even being considered or costed? Tesco is a big supporter of the rail network-there are a few stores in the South West so maybe they would be a supporter!

One reason that the Okehampton branch could be re-opened to passengers was that for a number of years the old LSWR main line operated as a freight line bringing aggregates out of Meldon Quarry. The quarry and line were mothballed a few years ago, but the quarry has now re-opened (about a year ago) and the plan is to re-instate the aggregate trains, but circa 2 miles of track needs improving before this can happen and this is taking time (work hadn’t stated at my last visit)-why? In the meanwhile heavy aggregate lorries pound the narrow roads around the quarry.    

The region benefits from heritage railways such as the West Somerset Railway (Bishops Lydeard to Minehead), the Dartmouth Steam Railway (Paignton to Kingswear), the South Devon Railway (Tones to Buckfastleigh), the Bodmin Railway (Bodmin Parkway to Bodmin) and the Helston Railway.  

There have been discussions of improving connectivity of the West Somerset Railway to Taunton and occasional service trains and through trains run as excursions. Is this another way to develop our local railway? Yes, there are logistical problems in running more trains on heritage lines and ensuring infrastructure is up to standard for a more intensive timetable. Route access charges for these lines may help support their finances or facilitate additional staffing of the heritage lines which have had a tough few years universally.

Overall the South West would have been better served if certain lines were not wantonly destroyed on closure, but mothballed and kept for potential future use when the economic circumstances changed.  The line from Ilfracombe to Barnstaple was closed in 1970, the track was retained as there was an attempt to acquire it to create a heritage line. The moment this deal floundered the track was ripped up….in 1975! Ilfracombe would be all the better and prosperous for not having lost its railway connection.

The Beeching cuts may have gone too far, the costs saved would be far outweighed by the costs of reinstating lines today (even in 1960s prices), which is why, unless we have a dramatic change in our economic circumstances, it is unlikely to happen. So the South West Region is still a poor relation to the rest of the country and relies on seasonal holiday revenues, with most visitors coming by car and little local industry to support the economy.

Copyright; Freddie Huxtable 12 October 2026.

* London and South Western Railway (the precursor to the Southern Railway and Region)