In fact for administrative convenience, the PD&SWJR was absorbed into the LSWR on 11 December 1922; the LSWR itself became a constituent part of the new Southern Railway on 1 January 1923. Remote from the other main Southern Railway constituents, the PD&SWJR route was not outwardly affected by the organisational change. However the GWR had gradually been improving its competing passenger service to Plymouth at the expense of the Southern route, and the Southern Railway decided that the service to the Ilfracombe branch, on which it had dominance, offered better returns. Multiple part passenger trains from London had traditionally favoured Plymouth as the prime destination, but this emphasis was altered. A 40 mph (64 km/h) speed restriction was imposed between Bridestowe and Ford to achieve permanent way maintenance economies in 1925. The Admiralty constructed a new Royal Naval Armaments Depot on the site of a former battery at Ernesettle, alongside the PD&SWJR line immediately north of the Royal Albert Bridge. This was commissioned in 1926; although there was an internal narrow gauge track system, there was no main line connection until 3 July 1938. During World War II, the Plymouth area suffered exceptionally from bombing attacks. In 1941, a connection from the Bere Alston line to the GWR line at St Budeaux was opened on 2 March, enabling Southern Railway trains to use the GWR. The Lydford link, removed in 1915, was reinstated on 30 May 1943. On 20 June 1947, the Southern Railway instituted the Devon Belle, an all-Pullman train running between Waterloo and Plymouth, with an Ilfracombe portion. However Plymouth patronage was disappointing, and the Plymouth portion was taken off from the end of the 1949 summer season. Partial Closure The general increase in road use led to a steep decline in use of the line in the 1950s, and closure of parts of the route came under consideration. Following the report the Reshaping of British Railways published in 1963 led to the so-called Beeching cuts, which resulted in the suspension of the Atlantic Coast Express trains after 5 September 1964, the PD&SWJR route being reduced to the status of a secondary line. Freight traffic was substantially reduced.From 7 September 1964 the line between St Budeaux Junction and Devonport Junction was closed, all trains from the Tavistock line using the GWR route. A stub to Devonport Kings Road remained open until 7 March 1971 for parcel traffic. The