The planning applications submitted to extend the railway to Blackmoor Gate and Wistlandpound Reservoir have now been fully approved by local authorities.
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Last Tuesday Exmoor National Park gave the L&BR the green light to relay three-and-a-half miles of heritage railway track from Killington Lane to Blackmoor Gate as well as approving a bid by the Lynton & Barnstaple Trust to build an engineering centre and rolling stock shed north of Blackmoor Gate. North Devon Council have already approved an application to reinstate a further mile of track between Blackmoor Gate and Wistlandpound Reservoir. The railway will also be converting the Old Station House Inn - the former Blackmoor Station - into a combined railway station and pub-restaurant.
These ambitious project plans are expected to provide huge regeneration for the local area by creating 24 full time jobs. The trust believes that the project will bring £62m to the area during the first ten years of operation. The project will see five-and-a-half miles of line reinstated on the narrow gauge railway for the first time in almost a century and is expected to take at least three years to complete. The L&BR plans to eventually rebuild the entire line right through to Lynton and back to Barnstaple.
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