Yeoford railway station

Yeoford station on 14 July 1969

The station was opened by the North Devon Railway on 1 August 1854.[1] On 1 November 1865 the first section of the Okehampton Railway opened, joining the main line at Coleford Junction, a short distance north of Yeoford. This route eventually became the London and South Western Railway main line to Plymouth and was the main junction of the LSWR's Plymouth and Barnstaple routes (being called Yeoford Junction for some time).[2]

Through trains beyond Okehampton to Plymouth were withdrawn in May 1968 and passenger services to Okeheampton ceased in 1972.[3] Passenger trains have since been restored to Okehampton (now known as the Dartmoor line) but they do not call at Yeoford. The two tracks passing through the station are actually independent single lines, with the one running through the disused (former northbound) platform used for Okehampton line trains, including stone traffic from the Aggregate Industries quarry at Meldon. The Tarka Line trains utilise what used to be the Exeter (southbound) platform in both directions, with the two lines connecting further south at Crediton.

The station has been used by many operators, but recently, over the last decade by Wales & West, a regional West Country and south Wales train operator, which in 2001 divided into Wessex Trains and Wales & Borders. Since then, Yeoford has been served by Wessex Trains and more recently by the Greater Western franchise, owned and operated by FirstGroup and now known as Great Western Railway.

All services at Yeoford are operated by Great Western Railway. Trains call at the station on request only. The typical off-peak service is one train per hour in each direction between Barnstaple and Exeter St David's, with most trains continuing to St James Park. Services are reduced to a train every two hours in each direction on Sundays.[4]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Crediton		Great Western Railway Tarka Line		Copplestone
	Historical railways
Crediton		London and South Western Railway Exeter to Okehampton		Bow

The railway between Exeter and Barnstaple is designated as a community railway and is supported by marketing provided by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership. The line is promoted as the Tarka Line.[5]

When under the ownership of ECT Group, the Dartmoor Railway had planned to reopen the disused platform at the station in order to create an interchange with the Tarka Line (and thus the national network). Through running from Yeoford to Okehampton was intended to commence in 2009 but this was delayed pending the finalising of transfer arrangements with Network Rail.[6] Accordingly, the "Sunday Rover" service run by Great Western Railway again operated on Sundays throughout the summer of 2009, although not calling here.[7] Though the GWR summer trains have continued to operate since (running again each summer from 2013–19), agreement over the use of Yeoford as an interchange has still not been reached and in recent years, the Dartmoor Railway have not pursued this objective. Services on the Dartmoor Railway were suspended in 2019.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yeoford railway station.

• Train times and station information for Yeoford railway station from National Rail