Editing Tarka Line (section)

== History ==
{{further|North Devon Railway|Exeter and Crediton Railway}}

=== Background and construction ===

The first proposals relating to what would become the Tarka Line originated in the 1820s, when it was proposed that a railway line might be built from Crediton to [[Exeter Quay]]. Authority was obtained to build this line by the [[Exeter and Crediton Railway Act 1832]] ([[2 & 3 Will. 4]]. c. xciii), but construction never started and the powers lapsed. However, business interests in Crediton became interested in a railway again after allies of the Great Western Railway (GWR), the [[Bristol and Exeter Railway]] (B&ER), reached Exeter in 1844, and the GWR-allied [[South Devon Railway Company|South Devon Railway]] started extending that line to [[Plymouth]]. In 1844, the [[Exeter and Crediton Railway]] (E&CR) was formed and a proposal was put forward for a new line to connect Crediton to the B&ER.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://great-devon-railway.uk/exeter%20%26%20crediton%20railway/index.html|title = EXETER & CREDITON Railway, London & South Western Railway| access-date=2020-11-21|website=Great Devon Railways}}</ref> This proposal was accepted and authority was granted by an the [[Exeter and Crediton Railway Act 1845]] ([[8 & 9 Vict.]] c. lxxxviii). The new company had capital of £70,000 (around £8.5 million in modern money), and made arrangements with the B&ER for the latter's trains to run to Crediton along the former's tracks.

Meanwhile, a proposal from business interests in [[Barnstaple]] was put forward in 1845 to build a new line connecting their town to the B&ER at Exeter. However, these proposals were rejected by the Railway Commission under [[Lord Dalhousie]], the so-called "Five Kings", who wished to defer the decision on linking Barnstaple to the national railway network in order to appraise an alternative proposal by the B&ER to construct a line that would run between Barnstaple and [[Tiverton Parkway railway station|their station]] at [[Tiverton, Devon|Tiverton]].

By January 1846, construction had started on the E&CR and on an unrelated line connecting Barnstaple with [[Fremington, Devon|Fremington Quay]], five miles to the west, and this created a new sense of urgency in connecting Barnstaple to the national network. Two proposals to reach Barnstaple were put forwards: an east-west route from Tiverton to [[Bideford]], via [[Mid Devon]] and Barnstaple; and a north-south route from Barnstaple to Crediton (with access to Exeter along the E&CR). The Tiverton option had [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]] as its engineer, was favoured by the GWR, and had backing from the Five Kings and the Lord Lieutenant of Devonshire, [[Hugh Fortescue, 2nd Earl Fortescue]]. Meanwhile, the LSWR had long-term ambitions to challenge the GWR's dominance in the south-west, and they backed the rival Crediton option, installing [[John Locke]] as its engineer.

The GWR party failed to submit their plans in line with the standing orders, and so Parliament rejected them, authorising the Crediton route despite the recommendations of Dalhousie's commission and the preference of the Lord Lieutenant. The [[Taw Vale Railway and Dock Act 1846]] ([[9 & 10 Vict.]] c. ccclv) created the LSWR-allied Taw Vale Extension Railway (TVER). In 1847, the GWR party tried and failed to agree a lease of the TVER's line to the B&ER. In the same year, the LSWR party purchased a majority stake in the E&CR and then leased the E&CR line to the TVER. The E&CR board, led by a J. W. Buller, remained aligned to the B&ER until Buller was removed that year (amid a procedural controversy that resulted in an unsuccessful appeal to the Five Kings). At the same time, construction continued on the E&CR, and by the end of 1847, the line was complete except for a connection to the B&ER. Given the departure of Buller, the E&CR directors conceded that an agreement with the B&ER would be impossible and ordered that the line be converted to the LSWR's narrow gauge and a station be constructed at Cowley Bridge.

As for the TVER, the end of Railway Mania had left it without funding and the Taw Vale Railway and Dock Act 1846 had left the decision on its gauge to the Railway Commission, who in 1848 announced it would be in broad gauge. Four days later, the conversion of the E&CR was complete. Thus, in 1848, construction had not yet started on the Crediton to Barnstaple line, there was no capital available, and it would have to be constructed in a gauge that would make through trains to Exeter impossible. Meanwhile, the commission also told the LSWR that they would not be permitted to construct a line linking the Cowley Bridge to Exeter, leaving the E&CR completely isolated.

=== Nineteenth century ===

The deadlock was broken in 1851 by William Chapman, chairman of the LSWR and the E&CR. He agreed to convert one of the two tracks on the Crediton line to broad gauge and lease the line to B&ER; in exchange, the B&ER agreed to construct a junction allowing trains to run from Crediton to Exeter St Davids, and Cowley Bridge station was never opened.

A service commenced of seven trains a day in each direction—the first trains to run on the future Tarka Line—and new railway stations opened to passengers at {{stnlnk|Newton St Cyres}} and {{stnlink|Crediton}}. In the same year, new company the North Devon Railway (NDR) was formed to replace the financially failed TVER and construction started on the Crediton–Barnstaple section. The NDR opened in 1854 with stations at {{stnlnk|Yeoford}}, {{stnlnk|Copplestone}}, {{stnlnk|Morchard Road}}, {{stnlnk|Lapford}}, {{stnlnk|Eggesford}}, [[Kings Nympton railway station|South Molton Road]], {{stnlink|Portsmouth Arms}}, {{stnlnk|Umberleigh}} and {{stnlnk|Barnstaple}}, as well as a siding at "Chappletown". However, the track south of Crediton continued to be owned by the E&CR. The NDR was taken over by the [[London and South Western Railway]] (LSWR) in 1865, and while the E&CR remained nominally independent, the majority of its shares were owned by the LSWR and the B&ER. The section south of Crediton became part of the LSWR in 1876.

=== Twentieth century ===
Following the passage of the [[Railways Act 1921]], the LSWR was merged into the [[Southern Railway (UK)|Southern Railway]], and in 1948 this became the [[Southern Region of British Railways|Southern Region]] of [[British Rail]]. Along with the [[Exeter to Plymouth railway of the LSWR|LSWR line to Plymouth]], the route was part of the "withered arm" of Southern routes in predominantly [[Great Western Railway]] (and subsequently [[Western Region of British Railways|Western Region]]) territory.

=== Privatisation ===

From 13 October 1996, services on the Tarka Line were operated by [[Wales & West]] (owned by [[Prism Rail]]) as part of heir franchise. [[National Express]] purchased Wales & West from Prism Rail in July 2000 and on 14 October 2001 rebranded Wales & West as [[Wessex Trains]] after the [[Strategic Rail Authority]] transferred the company's Welsh services to [[Wales and Borders]].

Sponsored by the North Devon tourist board, Wessex Trains renamed unit 150241 to ''The Tarka Belle'' and changed its livery to advertising for tourist destinations on the Tarka Line.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

The line was transferred to [[First Great Western]] in 2006, who rebranded as [[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|GWR]] in 2015 and introduced the line's current fleet and service pattern in December 2019.