In the UK, rail service is governed by law. The Government assigns companies to manage a particular route and if the company no longer wants to run the route, t

In the UK, rail service is governed by law. The Government assigns companies to manage a particular route and if the company no longer wants to run the route, the only options are selling it to another company, reducing the service significantly or going through the law system to get it changed. Often the easiest option is just massively reducing the service. I grew up in Devon, most families have cars anyway because the infrastructure just isn't hugely supported in that part of the country, so it wasn't hugely beneficial to have the train to just Exeter. Lastly, Okehampton isn't a major tourist destination for the South West. Its close to Dartmoor, but you need a car to explore that area affectively, it's not near any beaches where people normally go to Devon/Cornwall for