New Dartmoor Sunday Connections

NEW SUNDAY DARTMOOR BUS/RAIL CONNECTIONS FROM PLYMOUTH       

Some of the Sunday trains from Plymouth to Gunnislake on the scenic Tamar Valley Line now have a new connecting bus from Gunnislake station to Brentor, Lydford and Okehampton station where they connect with Okehampton’s Summer Sunday trains which started running from there to Exeter and Crediton last Sunday (19 May)

There are two round trips each Sunday until 8 September allowing people to take the train from Plymouth and make a day trip by public transport to Dartmoor destinations.

The buses also offer the opportunity to do a circular trip around Devon, with travel one way via Dartmoor and the other via the main line through Dawlish.  In addition, they provide a new Sunday public transport option for local residents in Brentor, Lydford and Mary Tavy.

Travellers holding rail tickets to Okehampton or Gunnislake will be able to buy a flat fare £3.00 Single or Day Return for any journey on the bus.   The bus is deemed a tourist service so concessionary and free passes will not be valid and all passengers will need to pay. Local fares will be available between all stops.

Funded by CrossCountry via their Community Engagement fund, the service has been organised by the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership and is operated by Plymouth Citybus.

Richard Burningham, Manager of the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership said “It is a few years since the old 187 Sunday bus service finished and we were keen to see a bus link between Gunnislake and Okehampton stations restored. Offering a bus transport option to do a Sunday day trip to Lydford Gorge, for example, which the bus goes right past, is a great opportunity to explore the area.  We are very grateful to CrossCountry for their help and support.”

Jody Ball, Stakeholder Liaison Manager for CrossCountry said “We are delighted to be helping the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership provide a new rail/bus link across Dartmoor. Connecting the two lines gives passengers the chance to make a day trip beyond the railway without a car.”

More information about the bus service can be found at www.dartmoorbus.com . 

© Brett Jones [cc] May 2016 The Tamar Valley Line Calstock Viaduct

As with anything like this, the more people use it, the more likely it will be back again next year!

More transport heritage uncovered

Historic tramway uncovered on Dartmoor

Two years of painstaking work by conservation volunteers on Dartmoor has paid off with the uncovering of 200 original railway sleepers

The Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway is one of the moor's lesser known historic features. It opened in 1823 to carry Dartmoor's exportable products, in particular granite, down to Plymouth's waterside. A horse-drawn tramway, it ran for 25 miles along a single track line with cast iron rails fixed to granite sleepers. The railway was the creation of Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, the founder of Princetown but by the mid-19th century it had fallen out of use and sections of it were later taken over by Great Western Railway.
Since its abandonment most of the rails have been removed and the granite sleepers had become obscured by decades of vegetation growth. Today part of the old tramway is used as Drake's Trail cycle route.
It is one of a number of historic features, like Drake's Leat and Devonport Leat, which took advantage of Dartmoor's gradient. The group - the Tavistock Task Force - cleared over 900 metres of the old railway track.
"Volunteer groups such as the Tavistock Task Force have completed over 1,000 hours of work, over the last 12 months, to benefit Dartmoor," said Mike Nendick from the Dartmoor National Park Authority.
"They carry out a huge range of tasks including litter picking, vegetation clearance, ecological work, path maintenance and archaeological repairs and surveys.
"The Clearbrook Tramway is a fascinating historic link between Dartmoor and the city of Plymouth and it is hoped that the many visitors to the area will enjoy discovering the wonderful contribution made by the task force to help conserve and enhance Dartmoor's special qualities." The work was funded by Dartmoor National Park Authority, the Dartmoor Trust and the Dartmoor Sustainable Development Fund.
BBC
Its always nice to see some effort being put into preserving little bits of our transport heritage.

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Transmoor Link 82

Changes are afoot this summer with the service 82

First D&C have published their summer timetable (from 27 May) on line showing two journeys on Saturdays and on Sunday/ Bank Holidays there are now five journeys each way, although this year there does not seem to be a link to Totnes as with previous years - although this may operate under a different route number?

Last summer Stagecoach operated the route mostly with low floor Tridents - hopefully First will use their Tridents on the route this year. It did seem strange that no week day service was timetabled but this has now been explained:

From James Pratt on the South West Bus Group comes this:

82 (New service) During the school summer holidays Country Bus will operate a Plymouth to Moretonhampstead via Princetown service with connections available at Moretonhampstead with Stagecoach service 359. Operating on Mondays to Fridays, the service operates with financial support from Dartmoor National Park departing Moretonhampstead at 0945 and 1515, returning from Plymouth at 1120 and 1650.

270 (New service) On Monday to Saturday during the school summer holidays, service 270 operates between Newton Abbot and Buckfastleigh Rail Station via Widecombe with financial support from Dartmoor National Park. There are three departures a day leaving Newton Abbot at 0930, 1230 and 1530, returning from Buckfastleigh at 1040, 1340 and 1640.272 (New service) On Monday to Saturday during the school summer holidays, service 272 operates between Newton Abbot and Tavistock via Ashburton, Dartmeet and Princetown with financial support from Dartmoor National Park. Departures from Newton Abbot at 0930 and 1400, returning from Tavistock at 1100 and 1530. In 2006 this service was operated by First with the first and last trip extended to and from Totnes and operating to Newton Abbot via Paignton and Torquay.

It sounds like these will be minibus operated - which seems a shame on the 82 at least.

Stagecoach across the Moors

This weekend has just seen the annual Ten Tors race in which hundreds of youngsters make their way across the beautiful but wild terrain of Dartmoor. Later this month we see Stagecoach Devon take over the 82 service from Plymouth to Exeter across the moors. This really is a fantastic route and needs to be a double decker to do it justice. With SCD taking over at the end of this month there is scope for some very nice buses to be used - maybe low floor Tridents could just make it? At the very least they have a decent fleet of Olympians which are very comfortable and put most of the outgoing FDC fleet to shame. That's not to say that FDC dont have any smart DDs - they do - but Exeter has them in quantity!