Crediton railway station


Crediton railway station is a railway station serving the town of Crediton in Devon, England.
It is the current junction of the Tarka and Dartmoor lines, though the two lines run parallel until Coleford Junction at Penstone near Coleford.

History

The station, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was opened by the Exeter and Crediton Railway on 12 May 1851. The line to was then opened by the North Devon Railway on 1 August 1854. After 1 November 1865 additional London and South Western Railway trains ran through the station going towards Okehampton.
The signal box which controls the level crossing was put into use on 2 June 1875, and the footbridge built in 1878. It now controls the entire Tarka Line from just north of the Cowley Bridge Junction with the Bristol to Exeter line, all the way to Barnstaple, although most of the line uses the No Signalman Token Remote system. Under this method of operation only a single train is allowed into each section, so not much signal control is actually required.
The creamery and dairy in Crediton is located next to the church, but the company's transport depot was located in Hoskin's Yard next to the station. Every day, a train of three or more Milk Tank Wagons would be filled from lorries, and then taken to London by either the GWR or the SR. Express Dairies sold the creamery and a similar unit in Kirkcudbright, Scotland in July 2002 to Milk Link, which by that time produced UHT milk.
The goods yard closed on 4 December 1967.

Services

Crediton is served by all trains between Barnstaple and, most of which continue to. In the summer of 2016 that was between 14 and 16 weekdays and 7 each way on Sundays. Until 8th September 2019 on summer Sundays there was an additional service from Exeter to over the Dartmoor Railway provided with Devon County Council funding as part of the Dartmoor Sunday Rover network.

Community railway

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 under the Tarka Line name.
The main station building is the award-winning Tea Rooms. These appeared in a list of "highly commended" station cafes published in The Guardian in 2009. The tea rooms house a 0 gauge static model of the station in LSWR days and displays about the railway locally.
The Friends of Crediton Station actively promote the station and have been involved in schemes such as planting flower beds.
In 2007, working with the Friends of Crediton Station, First Great Western painted the station in authentic LSWR colours.