The station was originally opened by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1865.[1] The station building is a two-storey construction of Dartmoor granite with ashlar dressings and round headed windows. The platform canopy has cast iron brackets with a creeper design. There is also a single-storey waiting room and offices.[2]
Following publication of the Beeching Report in 1963, the Exeter to Plymouth Line was cut back to Okehampton in 1968. The line was singled on 17 October 1971.[3]
Bow, North Tawton, Sampford Courtenay and Okehampton lost their regular passenger services from 1972. The line survived, however, for the purposes of freight thanks to the activities of the British Railballastquarry at Meldon, three miles from Okehampton, which had an output of 300,000 tons per year. The quarry survived until the 2000s, operated by Aggregate Industries.
British American Railway Services, a new company created by Iowa Pacific Holdings of Chicago, became the new owner of the Dartmoor line on 4 September 2008. The company sought to develop freight, passenger and tourist services on the railway.[4]
Subsequently infrastructure ownership transferred to Network Rail and on 20 November 2021 regular passenger services between Exeter and Okehampton resumed, operated by Great Western Railway.[5] Crediton is the only intermediate stop on that service.
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