Dartmoor Line reopens

In southwest England’s Devon County, the Dartmoor Line (dartmoorline.com), the first line to be reinstated in the country’s “Restoring your Railway” initiative, reopened on Nov. 20, 2021, after having ceased regular passenger service back in 1972.

It’s a 40-minute journey from Exeter St Davids to Okehampton, with a stop at Crediton (and, on some runs, Newton St Cyres). The trip costs £8 (near $10.60), including anytime day return. (A through-train is offered from Exeter Central to Okehampton five times a day; otherwise, a connecting train from Exeter Central to Exeter St Davids is available.)

The passenger train, usually with two cars and 130 seats, leaves Exeter St Davids every two hours, 6:30 a.m.-9:15 p.m., Mon.-Sat., and 8:42 a.m.-9:18 p.m. Sunday. 

Okehampton’s town center is 20 minutes’ walk from Dartmoor National Park, and Dartmoor is the only area in England currently explicitly allowing people to camp in the wild. The railway first reached Okehampton in 1871.