Geograph - photograph every grid square

The station was first used for passenger services by the London and South Western Railway in August 1871, initially as the terminus for trains from Exeter (or occasionally through from London Waterloo). In 1876 the line reached Plymouth, creating an alternative through route to the GWR's coastal line.

Through services to Plymouth ceased in 1968, and the last British Railways passenger train ran from Okehampton to Exeter on 3 June 1972. The line continued in use for freight trains from Meldon Quarry (running through Okehampton) until 2011. Meanwhile the Dartmoor Railway, a private volunteer-run organisation, ran occasional trains between Okehampton and Meldon Quarry from 1997 to 2020.

Great Western Railway and Network Rail then collaborated to reopen the line from Exeter to Okehampton to regular passenger services, beginning on 20th November 2021 just over 150 years since the station first opened.

The old goods shed has become a youth hostel, and there is a bus service between the station and the town centre which is only a kilometre from the station but 60m lower in altitude.

Problems experienced on the coastal line through Dawlish and Teignmouth during extreme weather have prompted ideas of reopening the entire Dartmoor route to Plymouth, though that would be many years coming to fruition, if ever, as the tracks have long since been lifted beyond Meldon.

Principal source: 'When the Train came to Town', published by the Museum of Dartmoor Life, 2021.