ON A Saturday towards the end of April what is probably the first through train ever will depart from Okehampton station for Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon, writes Christine Williams.

It will also be the first of three special trains this year organised by ‘OkeRail’ in conjunction with Great Western Railway (GWR) for the benefit of the local community in West Devon and North Cornwall to give them a foretaste of the long hoped for revival of regular train services to be operated in the area.

Named the ‘Royal Oke’, the special train will depart at approximately 7am, call at Crediton and Exeter and allow between five to six hours in either Oxford or Stratford before arriving back in Okehampton at about 9pm.

It will be a high-speed train with Pullman dining and buffet facilities. Online ‘air style booking’ will be available nearer the time. If there is sufficient demand, a connecting coach link from Marhamchurch calling at Bude, Stratton, Holsworthy and Halwill is hoped to be provided.

Later this year there will be two further special services, one to a seaside town, possibly Tenby, and another to London.

The trip to Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon was high on the agenda of a meeting of Connect Bude’s action group at the Falcon Hotel on February 21 chaired by Richard Wolfenden-Brown.

Treasurer Mike Moore said there was now 61 members, including seven corporate members, and 30 supporters.

Five new members were co-opted to the management committee. Their website (www.connectbude.uk) and Facebook site were developing and were full of useful information. Plans were made for further pop-up membership drives with one scheduled at the Triangle in Bude on Saturday, March 17, between 10am and 1pm, with possibly others at Holsworthy and Halwill in due course.

Dr Michael Ireland, vice-chair of the OkeRail forum, reported on a ‘Travel Watch South West’ meeting held at Devon County Hall on January 15, which followed transport secretary Chris Grayling’s instruction to GWR to draw up plans to reintroduce regular rail services between Exeter and Okehampton.

Dr Ireland made the case for Okehampton Parkway as a station to serve West Devon and North Cornwall. He stressed the need for good connectivity with a coach service from Bude tying in with train times and urged the rail and bus companies to talk.

Dr Ireland also reported on a meeting with GWR at Exeter St David’s station on February 9. The pricing and the finer points of operating the Royal Oke train, which will be able to accommodate 518 passengers, were discussed as well as the timetable of the OkeRail summer Sunday trains.

A brief discussion also took place about a GWR trial service to Okehampton, which it was hoped would initially be two hourly.

Looking further ahead GWR would indicate to the Department for Transport future developments of the line beyond the three-year trial service, which would include the new Parkway station and an all-year train service between Exeter and Okehampton

Details of the rail and coach fare and precise timings will be published in due course but expressions of interest from residents can be sent to [email protected] or [email protected] and anyone interested in using the coach service should contact [email protected] or call 01288 361878 for further information.