Bideford Station Video Tour The railway from Barnstaple to Bideford was opened in 1855, but was sadly closed to regular passengers in October 1965 as part of the notorious Beeching Report; the line from Barnstaple/Torrington/Meeth remained open to freight traffic until 1982. Then the railway track was finally lifted in 1985 and converted into the now popular Tarka Trail Footpath & Cycleway. The Bideford & Instow Railway Group was set up in 1988 and has worked hard since that date to restore the Bideford Station site. The Bideford Railway Heritage Centre is situated at the old station in East-the-Water, across the old Long Bridge - go straight on under the railway bridge and the station is the first turning to the right just past the Royal Hotel. The Signal Box has been rebuilt and a short stretch of track has been re-laid on this part of the Tarka Line, the group's aim to return passenger train rides along the re-laid section of track at Bideford came to fruition in 2004, when after over three years of constant effort, they received the agreement of Her Majesty's Inspector of Railways to start passenger operations. With a great fanfare, the first passenger service from Bideford Station commenced on 15 August 2004, with return brake van rides to Nutaberry Hill Bridge; the service was timetabled from 10.15am to 5.00pm and carried 551 passengers in total on the day. The Mayor of Bideford, Councillor Peter Christie, accompanied by the Mayoress, unveiled the New Atlantic Coast Express. The average journey time over the 0.8km length of track was seven minutes, with 47 timetabled journeys rostered by five locomotive drivers and three guards, special souvenir Edmondson tickets, date-stamped 15 August 2004, were issued to all passengers. The Group has also restored Instow Signal Box, which dates from 1872 and was the first Signal Box in the UK to be listed as a building of architectural interest; it is now the only all-equipped Box of its type in the whole of the Southwest. Devon County Council owns the signal box, but the Railway Group have managed it since 1988. In 2006 the Group became the Bideford Railway Heritage Centre Community Interest Company, the Bideford station site is accessible to all from the Tarka Trail.