Yeoford railway station

Yeoford station on 14 July 1969

The station was opened by the North Devon Railway on 1 August 1854. On 1 November 1865 the first section of the Okehampton Railway opened, joining the main line at Coleford Junction, a short distance north of Yeoford.[1] This route was part of the London and South Western Railway main line between Exeter and Plymouth, and was the main junction of the LSWR's Plymouth and Barnstaple routes (being called Yeoford Junction for some time), but this lost its through trains beyond Okehampton in May 1968 and closed to passengers in 1972.

Passenger trains have since been restored to the Okehampton line, but they only operate on summer Sundays and do not call at Yeoford. The two tracks passing through the station are actually independent single lines, with the one running through the disused (former northbound) platform used for Okehampton line trains, including stone traffic from the Aggregate Industries quarry at Meldon. The Tarka Line trains utilise what used to be the Exeter (southbound) platform in both directions, with the two lines connecting further south at Crediton.

The station has been used by many operators, but recently, over the last decade by Wales & West, a regional West Country and south Wales train operator, which in 2001 divided into Wessex Trains and Wales & Borders. Since then, Yeoford has been served by Wessex Trains and more recently by the Greater Western franchise, owned and operated by FirstGroup and now known as Great Western Railway.

The Tarka Line has an hourly service through most of the day (but two hourly on Sundays) but trains only stop at Yeoford on request. Trains connect with main line services at Exeter St Davids.[2]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Crediton		Great Western Railway Tarka Line		Copplestone
	Proposed Heritage railways
Terminus		Dartmoor Railway		Sampford Courtenay

The railway between Exeter and Barnstaple is designated as a community railway and is supported by marketing provided by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership. The line is promoted under the Tarka Line name.

When under the ownership of ECT Group, the Dartmoor Railway had planned to reopen the disused platform at the station in order to create an interchange with the Tarka Line (and thus the national network). Through running from Yeoford to Okehampton was intended to commence in 2009 but this was delayed pending the finalising of transfer arrangements with Network Rail.[3] Accordingly, the "Sunday Rover" service run by Great Western Railway again operated on Sundays throughout the summer of 2009, although not calling here.[4] Though the GWR summer trains have continued to operate since (running again each summer from 2013–19), agreement over the use of Yeoford as an interchange has still not been reached and in recent years, the Dartmoor Railway have not pursued this objective.

Doctor Who recurring character Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Beverley Cressman), not yet working with UNIT, arrives at Yeoford railway station at the beginning of Dæmos Rising.