Okehampton railway station is a terminus railway station on the Dartmoor line serving the town of Okehampton in Devon, England. The station closed to regular traffic in 1972, but heritage and occasional mainline services ran from 1997 to 2019. Regular railway services resumed in November 2021. History The station opened in 1871 when the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) extended its line from . Services were extended further west to with the inauguration of Meldon Viaduct in 1874. Constructed to rival the South Devon Railway route to Plymouth, the completion of the LSWR's own route to Plymouth saw Okehampton become an important junction with lines to Padstow and as well as . Boat trains carrying passengers from ocean liners calling at Stonehouse Pool, Plymouth and prestige services such as the Atlantic Coast Express and Devon Belle all used the route. From 1960 to 1964 it was the terminus of a car-carrying train from . With the publication of the Beeching Report in 1963, the line to Bude was put forward for closure as was part of the Exeter to Plymouth Line which was to be cut back to Okehampton. The local press were surprised at this decision, since many small towns had their railway services cut, yet Okehampton survived with a population under 4,000. Its survival prompted questions as to why the line should remain open when others, such as the Avocet Line which saw far more traffic, were proposed for closure. It was said that at the time Okehampton had about 50 regular users per day and a handful of season ticket holders. The Avocet Line was saved from closure, but Okehampton lost its passenger services from 1972. The line survived, however, for the purposes of freight thanks to the activities of the British Rail ballast quarry at Meldon, three miles from Okehampton, which had an output of 300,000 tons per year. The line to the quarry closed in 2011. Stationmasters William Hodge 1871 - 1898 (formerly station master at North Tawton) Frank Russell 1898 – 1902 (formerly station master at Halwill Junction, afterward stationmaster at Eastleigh) J. B. Lodder 1902 – 1905 (afterward station master at Launceston) Walter Hinde until 1909 (afterward station master at Ilfracombe) Edwin Charles Watkins 1909 – 1919 (formerly station master at Barnstaple, afterward station master at Padstow) F. S. Stretch 1919 – 1921 (formerly station master at Padstow, afterward station master at