Classic route
Tarka Line
Exeter → Barnstaple · England
Along the Taw through Henry Williamson’s Tarka the Otter country: Devon’s surviving branch line winding from Exeter’s cathedral city to Barnstaple.
- Distance
- 63 km
- Fastest time
- ≈ 1 h 10 min
- Average speed
- 54 km/h
- Top speed
- 120 km/h
Stations
- 0 kmExeter Central +5
- 7 kmNewton St Cyres
- 11 kmCrediton +1
- 17 kmYeoford
- 22 kmCopplestone
- 24 kmMorchard Road
- 28 kmLapford
- 34 kmEggesford
- 41 kmKings Nympton
- 45 kmPortsmouth Arms
- 52 kmUmberleigh
- 56 kmChapelton
- 63 kmBarnstaple
The stations OpenStreetMap lists for this service, in order, with the distance along the line as drawn here. A train may skip some of them. A +N after a station: N other routes on this map stop or end there, and the map draws it as a station where lines meet.
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 275887: the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 3 m from it
- Checked against the running timetable via ÖBB Scotty: our line sits under 100 m from the shape of train 41488
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Questions and answers
How long is the Tarka Line?
The Tarka Line runs 63 km from Exeter to Barnstaple.
How long does the Tarka Line take?
The fastest scheduled journey is ≈ 1 h 10 min for the 63 km. That is an average of 54 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 120 km/h.
Who runs the Tarka Line?
GWR.
How old is the Tarka Line?
The line has been in service since 1854. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
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