Okehampton–Bude line

The railway brought Bude prosperity as a watering place, and in the closing decades of the 19th century it became a holiday destination.

On 10 August 1898 the line was extended to Bude following authorisation by the South Western Railway Act 1895 (58 & 59 Vict.

The journey from London and the Midlands was long and although Bude developed, it never challenged the South Devon seaside towns.

Before the arrival of the railway, sea sand from Bude was used to improve the agricultural qualities of land, as it was rich in minerals, particularly lime.

However the sparse population and lengthy and slow railway journey via Okehampton and Crediton, and the increases in car ownership and road lorry usage in the 1950s meant that traffic on the line declined.

The area served by the line was sparsely populated—Mitchell[4] records that fewer than seven tickets a day were sold at Ashbury in 1936—and passenger numbers declined steadily, especially when private car ownership became commonplace.

This is misleading; when the line was extended from Holsworthy to Bude, re-location of sidings was necessary, but the station and the passenger platforms, remained in their original position.

[4] In summer 1958,[7] seven stopping trains operated from Monday to Friday between Okehampton and Bude; one conveyed through coaches from London Waterloo.

The Atlantic Coast Express, a through train from Waterloo at 10:35, ran non-stop from Exeter St Davids to Halwill and called at Holsworthy arriving at Bude at 15:25.

The Western Region timetable for 1965 included a summer Saturday service to and from London Paddington, which last ran on 4 September 1965.