Trust cannot reopen part of historic railway line

HOPES of reinstating part of an Exmoor railway line have been dashed after the national park's planning committee voted overwhelmingly to refuse the scheme.

- BRADLEY GERRARD Local Democracy Reporter

The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust had applied to reinstate the railway line between Killington Lane and Cricket Field Lane.

The works would also have included the renovation of a road bridge and the construction of another, as well as a halt, and run around loop, which would have allowed the engine of the train to attach at the opposite end of the carriages.

Planning officers had recommended the scheme be refused, and seven of the planning committee members backed this view, with the remaining member abstaining.

The steam train line is a rare narrow gauge, which reopened to the public in 2004 and runs from Woody Bay station.

In it's heyday, between 1906 and 1913, it is believed to have carried around 100,000 passengers annually, a figure which dropped to 32,000 in 1934, a year before it was closed.