'It was like sardines' - passengers speak out about the Tarka Line

Commuters, students and visitors to North Devon have described a railway that is overcrowded, unreliable and stuck in the past, and many are asking whether anything will ever change.

The question comes up again and again among passengers on the Tarka Line. "Will anything actually be done?"

For the tens of thousands of people across North Devon who rely on the 39-mile route between Exeter and Barnstaple, it is not a rhetorical question. It is the defining frustration of daily life on one of the most underinvested rural railways in England.

Elle Bailey had travelled from Essex to visit a friend in North Devon for the Easter break. She had made the same journey the previous September, taking the train via Paddington before changing at Exeter. On that occasion, she told the Gazette, the service to Barnstaple was running with only two carriages.

"It was like sardines," she said. "It was uncomfortable and I had to stand all the way from Exeter to Barnstaple."

This time, she was fortunate: three carriages, and a seat. But her experience from the previous year is far from unusual.

Joe, a student who studies in Bristol, uses the Tarka Line to travel between his university city and his family home in Ilfracombe.

He was waiting at Barnstaple station for his parents to collect him because, as he explained, the railway does not reach Ilfracombe. His parents had to drive to pick him up. He found the state of the rail infrastructure in North Devon "annoying".

There are roughly 17 trains each day from Barnstaple to Exeter, leaving around every hour. For a rural area with limited alternative transport options, campaigners say that is simply not enough.

North Devon is one of the most sparsely populated parts of England, with bus services limited and road congestion a persistent problem. The railway, for all its limitations, is often the most practical option for those who cannot or choose not to drive.

At Barnstaple station, the mood among passengers spoken to by the Gazette was one of quiet resignation rather than outrage. For some, the anger has largely gone. For others, there is huge concern for their businesses based at the station.

For years, communities along the line have lobbied for better services, more trains, improved rolling stock and modern infrastructure.