Kings Nympton railway station, also spelt King's Nympton, is a halt on the Tarka Line in North Devon, serving the civil parishes of Chulmleigh, Burrington and King's Nympton. The station is located at Fortescue Cross, a road junction on the A377, around miles (4 km) from its namesake village. It is from at milepost 197.75 from . The station and all trains are operated by Great Western Railway (GWR).
History
Nineteenth century
The station was opened as South Molton Road on 11 August 1854, one of the five stations on the new North Devon Railway (NDR) line between and (from whence NDR trains continued on the Exeter and Crediton Railway to ). The station's 'road' name showed that it was situated at a distance down the road from the town of South Molton, which is around ) away.
The NDR initially had a service of four trains a day in each direction from Monday to Saturday and two trains a day on Sundays. From 2 November 1855 they were extended beyond Barnstaple to The London and South Western Railway (LSWR) took over the line and from 2 March 1863 could offer through services to their more central station in Exeter (Exeter Queen Street) and London Waterloo station. By 1906 they were operating 10 trains on weekdays but only one down and three up trains called on Sundays.
The LSWR opened a 16-lever signal box on 1 October 1873 to control the passing loop and the station's three sidings. The passing loop was short, only long enough for a 15-wagon goods train, but longer trains could reverse into sidings at either end of the station when necessary. The goods yard was on the north side of the line at the Exeter end of the station. It had a short siding serving cattle pens that were busy during the monthly a livestock auctions that were held adjacent to the station. The other siding was much longer and served a goods shed and coal merchant.
Twentieth century
The Railways Act 1921 merged the LSWR with other railways to create the new Southern Railway. In 1938 South Molton Road was served by eight trains a day in each direction.
The Southern Railway was nationalised in 1948 and South Molton Road became part of the Southern Region of British Railways. British Rail renamed the station from 'South Molton Road' to 'Kings Nympton' on 1 March 1951 to avoid confusion with South Molton railway station on the Barnstaple–Taunton line and to better reflect its location.
The British Railways Board (BRB) transferred the Southern Region lines west of Exeter to the Western Region in 1950, the Western Region being responsible for the stations while the Southern Region continued to operate the trains. The BRB transferred the lines back to the Southern Region in 1958. The BRB's 1963 The Reshaping of British Railways report included Kings Nympton on the list of stations proposed to be closed, along with the whole of the line. In 1963 the line was transferred back to the Western Region along with all the Southern region lines west of , both the stations and the trains.
In 1965 there were 9 down and 10 up trains calling at Kings Nympton on weekdays but the Western Region downgraded lines and cut services along the former Southern lines. The goods yard at Kings Nympton was closed to public traffic on 4 December 1967 although a siding was retained until 1981. The signal box closed on 26 July 1970 and since then all trains then have used the former up platform. By 1980 there were just 4 down trains each day and 5 weekday and 3 Sunday up services.
Tarka Line and privatisation
British Rail introduced modern lightweight 'Skipper' trains in May 1986 but they did not prove successful so older, more conventional trains returned. In 1990 the line was promoted as the 'Tarka Line'.
British Rail was privatised in 1996. The infrastructure was transferred to Railtrack, which later became Network Rail, but the station was operated by whichever Train Operating Company held the franchise. Wales & West won the initial franchise that included the Barnstaple branch. Wales & West franchise was reorganised as Wessex Trains in 2001. The franchise was merged into First Great Western in 2006 which rebranded itself as the Great Western Railway in 2015.
In February 2012, the North Devon Public Transport Users' Group proposed that Kings Nympton—along with every other Tarka Line station except for Barnstaple, Crediton and Exeter St Davids—be closed, to improve journey times between Exeter and Barnstaple. The suggestion was opposed by the Tarka Rail Association, who said that the group 'cannot ignore the importance of those communities' served by Tarka Line halts like Kings Nympton, and Network Rail took no action on the basis of it.