Ashburton

I see that the master plan has been paused. Interesting of the staged approach that is being proposed. I never appreciated that the a38 did allow for reinstatement of the route baring the missing two bridges and tunnel at buckfastleigh

Https://m.facebook.com/AshburtonStation

 

That Faceebook page is a bit is a mishmash. Camel Trail and a signal box in Oxforshire thrown in for luck. The link to the DNP web site gives up to date and local info where the situation stands at present. Since the major works improving the A38 in the late 1970's and given the tremendous amount of traffic now using the it, it would not surprise me to hear of further road widenings in the future. Between Exeter (end of M5) and Plymouth the A38 is known as the Devon Expressway.

http://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/planning...s-and-development-briefs/ashburton-masterplan

 

Sorry to resurrect an old thread - was at the SDR last week and it seemed that there was at least a hope that Ashburton could be reached gain one day - is it remotely possible?

 

Hasn't there been some discussion of that more recently (than 2016) on another thread?

 

There is always a hope, some might call it WIBN, to re-instate the line to Ashburton from Buckfastleigh.
In other fora comment is made about the A38 and that the original line closely followed it. So it did, but the A38 of the late 1960's has little relationship to the A38 - known as the Devon Expressway - of the 21st. century. Major interruptions by roadworks building a rail underpass would raise serious objections throughout Devon and Cornwall. Few would countenance such an event solely for a tourist line which only runs part of the year.
There is of course the Dartmoor plans, national and National Park which have a big say in all this.

 

There is also the view that Devon took its decision to cut the line without considering the future benefits to the area and allowing for that by building the Expressway OVER the line rather than THROUGH it. That was an error in the political philosophy of the time based on faulty future thinking and it seems right that the council should pay for that mistake by building a railway underpass - irrespective of cost and convenience.

There is also the view that the Expressway encourages drivers to pass the area, seeing it as a road east to Exeter and west to Cornwall, but development of the railway to its logical terminus at Ashburton could encourage more visitors thus bringing economic benefits to the area that are currently being lost; the area including both Devon and the Dartmoor National Park which both have an interest in attracting visitors.

 

The world was a different place back then when I was a volunteer on the DVR. We were looked at as a bunch of odd misfits playing trains, not least by the authorities. There was no thought that we were preserving part of the country's industrial heritage. I don't think the Council had any thought that the railway played any part in their idea of the future, remember one of then biggest objectors to the reopening of the Severn Valley was Shropshire County Council.

 

The counties of Devon and Cornwall have a road system which, particularity in the south, can be busy and congested. A road accident soon results in gridlock even on the Expressway. Ashburton, as most places, in Devon is well signposted and it it is only a few minutes drive off the A38 which means anyone intended to visit the stannary town should have no difficulty. I haven't been to Ashburton for a couple of years or so but plans to re-develop the former station and surrounding area looked good. Maybe it has commenced.