| Line closure Exeter - Barnstaple / Okehampton, March 2026 Posted by John D at 11:33, 11th January 2026 |     |
Advance notice of Engineering work for the Crediton area has been issued for a 9 day closure Saturday 21st March to Sunday 29th March
Sounds like the Exeter-Tiverton Parkway section is also closed on 29th
Details of replacement bus services are available by selecting those dates and looking at realtimetrains or journey planners.
| Re: Line closure Exeter - Barnstaple / Okehampton, March 2026 Posted by infoman at 03:43, 12th January 2026 | |
Just wondering if express bus/coach services could also deployed direct from Tiverton to Barnstaple.
| Re: Line closure Exeter - Barnstaple / Okehampton, March 2026 Posted by grahame at 08:43, 12th January 2026 | |
Just wondering if express bus/coach services could also deployed direct from Tiverton to Barnstaple.
Well - they *could* but people from Barnstaple are headed predominantly for the Exeter area.
Three times as many passengers by train from Barnstaple are travelling according to ticket data to Exeter Central than to any other destination. So that's the logical thing to replace. Here is the service before and during the engineering works.
18th March 2026
11:35 - 12:41 to EXD continued to EXC at 12:45
25th March 2026
10:57 - 12:32 to EXD where it terminates.
12:42 train EXD to EXC arrives there at 12:45
The following major passenger flows are to Exeter St Davids, and to Digby and Sowton. Together with the Exeter Central flow, these are the only three that exceed 10%. Tiverton is not a major flow, and only 2 of the top 10 flows are north east of Tiverton.
| Re: Line closure Exeter - Barnstaple / Okehampton, March 2026 Posted by Mark A at 18:00, 12th January 2026 | |
That aside, is there an argument for a permanent direct bus link between Ilfracombe / Braunton / Barnstaple to South Molton / Tiverton / Tiverton Parkway? (The current junction to the A361 doesn't quite support this though).
Awkward that Bideford is where it is, as it could not be served by the same service - not without buses adapted for 'Portion running'.
Mark
| Re: Line closure Exeter - Barnstaple / Okehampton, March 2026 Posted by red cuillen at 15:36, 13th January 2026 | |
Several of us have commented on the car parking at Tiverton though. On my infrequent trips to the parkway I would guess that there are 40 plus more cars during Barnstaple closures, leading to parking on grass verges and awkward parking on the road into the village. Isn't there any way of getting more accurate figures, there has never been any ticket checks for me at Tivy or on trains from there to EXD, though the barriers there have always been working - would that register the necessary information?
