The Bishop of Exeter received the following written answers on 10th May 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Exeter asked His Majesty’s Government how many passengers on the Dartmoor Line used the re-opened Exeter to Okehampton railway in each month for the past year.
Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con): Below is a table that shows how many passengers on the Dartmoor Line used the re-opened Exeter to Okehampton railway in each rail period from April 2022 onwards.
| Rail Period (four weekly) | Okehampton journeys |
| 2301 – starts 1 April 2022 | 10,406 |
| 2302 – starts 1 May 2022 | 12,090 |
| 2303 – starts 29 May 2022 | 18,441 |
| 2304 – starts 26 June 2022 | 18,305 |
| 2305 – starts 24 July 2022 | 18,068 |
| 2306 – starts 21 August 2022 | 23,519 |
| 2307 – starts 18 September 2022 | 18,772 |
| 2308 – starts 16 October 2022 | 22,411 |
| 2309 – starts 13 November 2022 | 24,952 |
| 2310 – starts 11 December 2022 | 12,757 |
| 2311 – starts 8 January 2023 | 21,418 |
| 2312 – starts 5 February 2023 | 25,548 |
| 2313 – starts 5 March 2023 | 22,867 |
| 2022/2023 total | 249,554 |
The Lord Bishop of Exeter asked His Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans under the ‘Restoring your Railway’ initiative to open other railway stations on the Dartmoor Line in addition to the second station planned in Okehampton Parkway.
Baroness Vere of Norbiton: West Devon District Council was awarded up to £13.455m Levelling Up Funding in January this year to develop the West Devon Transport Hub, including Okehampton Parkway station. There are no plans to open any other stations on the Dartmoor Line.
The Lord Bishop of Exeter asked His Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to re-opening the railway line from Exeter to Holsworthy and Bude.
Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The proposed project was assessed as part of the Restoring Your Railway programme after a bid was made under the third round of the programme’s Ideas Fund. The assessment concluded that the project was not appropriate for funding through the Restoring Your Railway programme. Feedback was provided to the sponsoring MPs and promoter in October 2021.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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