Tarka Line

Tarka Line
Crossing the River Taw at Umberleigh
Overview
Status	Open
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Devon, England
Termini	Exeter St Davids 50°43′45″N 3°32′38″W / 50.7291°N 3.5438°W / 50.7291; -3.5438 (Exeter St Davids station) Barnstaple 51°04′26″N 4°03′49″W / 51.0740°N 4.0635°W / 51.0740; -4.0635 (Barnstaple station)
Stations	13
Service
Type	Community rail
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	Great Western Railway
Depot(s)	Exeter TMD
Rolling stock	Class 158 or Class 166 DMUs
Ridership	0.758 million (2023)[1]
History
Opened	1851–1854
Technical
Line length	39 mi (62.76 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Old gauge	7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) Brunel gauge
Route map (Click to expand)

v t e Tarka Line
Legend
Exeter–Plymouth line to Penzance & Riviera Line to Paignton West of England line to Basingstoke & Avocet Line to Exmouth Exeter St Davids ¾ Red Cow Level Crossing Riverside Yard Cowley Bridge Junction Bristol–Exeter line to Taunton River Exe Newton St Cyres 4¼ Crediton 6¾ Crediton Level Crossing Salmon Pool Level Crossing Yeoford 10½ Coleford Junction 11½ Dartmoor line to Okehampton Copplestone 13½ Morchard Road 15¾ Lapford 17½ Eggesford Level Crossing Eggesford 21¼ Kings Nympton 25¼ Portsmouth Arms 28¼ River Taw Umberleigh Level Crossing Umberleigh 32¼ River Taw Chapelton 34¾ Langham Lake River Taw Pill Bridge Devon and Somerset Railway to Taunton GW Line Junction Barnstaple 39¾ Ilfracombe Line Junction Ilfracombe branch line to Ilfracombe North Devon Railway to Bideford

The Tarka Line, also known as the North Devon Line,^[2] is a local railway line in Devon, England, linking the city of Exeter with the town of Barnstaple via a number of local villages, operated by Great Western Railway (GWR). The line opened in 1851 from Exeter to Crediton and in 1854 the line was completed through to Barnstaple. The line was taken over by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1865 and later became part of the Southern Railway and then British Rail. In 2001, following privatisation, Wessex Trains introduced the name Tarka Line after the eponymous character in Henry Williamson's book Tarka the Otter. The line was transferred to First Great Western in 2006.

It is one of the railway lines supported by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership and passenger numbers on the line have more than tripled since 2001.