A SATURDAY train service from Okehampton to Exeter could be on the cards next year now Dartmoor Railway has acquired four fifths of a new train.
A set of four carriages originally used on the Waterloo to Weymouth line have been transferred to Okehampton Station and all that is needed is an engine to pull them.
Managing director of Dartmoor Railway John Hummel said the coaches, in the style of the old British Railway blue, were part of a rolling stock passed to run on Railtrack so the firm hoped to use it on the Exeter service, currently run on a Sunday throughout the summer.
'We are presently in negotiations to get hold of a locomotive and an outline agreement has been reached to use the coaches on the railway line probably in 2002,' said Mr Hummel.
'Because we have not had rolling stock on site in the past we have been unable to run the Exeter service on a Saturday before. It will open up the options and be more comfortable for passengers as it has tables.'
Dartmoor Railway already owns a two coach set known as the 'Dartmoor Pony' which runs between Okehampton and Meldon.