HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : Rail Authority Chairman Announces Funding for Devon Rail Services [April 2002]

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 17 April 2002.

On a visit to Devon today, Richard Bowker, Chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), announced funding for additional services on the County’s ‘Tarka Line’.

The announcement comes on the second day of a visit to the West Country, in which he is meeting railway staff, business, and civic leaders to discuss rail services in this strategically important region.

Two additional weekday trains in each direction from Exeter Central to Barnstaple will run from the Summer 2002 timetable, bringing the service level to eleven trains each way daily. The funding has been made available through the SRA’s Rail Passenger Partnership (RPP) scheme for an eighteen-month period.

The SRA is providing £144,000 towards overall cost of £367,000. Further funding is being provided by Wessex Trains, the Countryside Agency, Devon County Council and the Tarka Line Working Party.

Commenting on the funding, Richard Bowker said:

“Today’s announcement confirms our willingness to invest in North Devon’s railway. It will be a boost for local businesses and tourism, and is a positive response to the views of passengers and Devon County Council. I know that Wessex Trains will be working hard with the community to attract more passengers to make these extra trains a permanent feature of the timetable.”