Members of a growing grassroots rail movement – including in Devon and Cornwall – have continued to strive for communities across the South West and work towards a greener transport future, despite the pandemic, and are looking forward to supporting local recovery. Read more
Fantastic news – communities and passengers are to benefit from the reopening of the railway between Okehampton and Exeter as a result of the Government’s ‘Restoring your Railway’ initiative.
Following confirmation of government funding, services are expected to restart later this year on the 14-mile stretch of railway – known as the Dartmoor Line – for the first time in almost 50 years, providing a regular, daily passenger rail service between Okehampton and Exeter. Read more
An amazing 75 sketches were submitted by professionals and hobbyists alike in our competition to design Direction of Travel signs for Lelant and Carbis Bay stations.
These are the shortlisted entries. Keep scrolling to see who won!
A huge thanks to everyone who took part and to our team of judges. Read more
The Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership and Great Western Railway are delighted to offer an opportunity for artists to get involved with a public art commission along the St Ives Bay Line.
The challenge is to design ‘direction of travel’ signs at Carbis Bay and Lelant stations which reflect the landscape, wildlife, history or community value of the line. Read more
Next train departure screens have been installed at four Cornish rail stations to improve passenger information thanks to a partnership between Great Western Railway and the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership.
The £38,000 project has seen screens installed at Looe, Lostwithiel, Newquay and St Ives stations. Read more
A Swedish family who love the Looe Valley Line in Cornwall have come up with a unique Covid-safe way of remembering the area from their home in Sweden.
Dad Knut Hauge contacted Gill Bridges from the Polraen Country House Hotel in Sandplace requesting a copy of the hotel’s breakfast menu so he could surprise his wife Hanne and two sons, Simen and Ola, with a traditional English breakfast at home. Read more
St Ives Bay Line by WestBahnFilms
Train services are unchanged and continue running as we enter the new national restrictions, but there are new rules about travel. Here’s a quick explainer:
You can travel for the following reasons (taken from Gov.uk Read more
The Exeter – Barnstaple Tarka Line now has the best service of its entire 165 year existence and in this post I’m going to take you back to show why that is true.
First off, what does “Best ever” mean here? Read more
Two pieces of colourful artwork, Direction of Travel signs, have been installed at Tarka Line stations, one at Copplestone, the other at Umberleigh.
The artwork was designed by Exeter College of Art students Jasmine Liu and Estha Ferris. Jasmine designed the sign at Copplestone station and Estha the sign at Umberleigh. Read more
Perranwell station on the Truro – Falmouth Maritime Line has gone back to the 50s with brand new replica heritage signage from the period.
The chocolate and cream British Railways Western Region signs were one of the aspirations of the very active Friends of Perranwell Station, following in the footsteps of their counterparts two stations down the line at Penmere. Read more
The GWR timetable change – what does it mean for you?
This Sunday (15 Dec 2019) sees the biggest timetable change on the Great Western Railway network since 1976. Journey times will change, with more frequent trains and more seats.
Find out what it means for you with our quick summary below. Read more
A high tech heritage project born in Plymouth has picked up a national award.
The Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership, based at the University of Plymouth, teamed up with city digital agency Elixel to encourage more visitors to explore the branch line in South East Cornwall between Liskeard and Looe. Read more
A trio of Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership projects in South East Cornwall have been recognised at the national Community Rail Awards.
The Looe Valley Line Heritage Project which celebrates the history of the Liskeard to Looe branch line won two awards. Read more
CASE STUDY | Find out about our inter-generational tea parties on the train to explore memories of the railway and bring people together. The project won the "Best Community Engagement" category at the national Community Rail Awards.
CASE STUDY | We worked with the local community to tell the hidden stories of the past 160 years on the Looe Valley Line. We produced video documentaries, a mobile phone app, interpretation boards and more to bring history to life.
CASE STUDY | The Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership worked with the local community to replace damaged and decrepit tiles at Gunnislake with creative and durable new works of art.
The Friends of Penmere Station have installed a new insect friendly rockery at the station thanks to help from the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership and funding from the Community Rail Development Fund, a joint initiative of the Department for Transport and ACoRP, the Association of Community Rail Partnerships. Read more
New for 2019, have a summer Sunday day out on Dartmoor thanks to a new bus connecting with trains.
Every Sunday until 8 September, the bus will run between Okehampton station and Lydford, Lydford Gorge, Brentor, Tavistock and Gunnislake station.
It will link in with some Exeter–Okehampton and Gunnislake–Plymouth trains and pass the main entrance to Lydford Gorge. Read more
Barnstaple railway station now has free wi-fi throughout the station thanks to a partnership between the Tarka Rail Association, Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership and GWR.
The wi-fi equipment has been supplied by local company Lineal Software Solutions of The Strand, Barnstaple. Read more
The clock on platform 2 at Truro station was in need of TLC, having stopped being a reliable timekeeper (and hence having to be stopped) and with its casing filthy from decades of diesel fumes.
GWR Station Manager Lee Goodson and his staff were determined to get the clock restored inside and out and asked the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership for help with funding. Read more