Bude station was deliberately sited on the outskirts of the town in order to please the residents of Stratton whose, at the time, larger town had been bypassed by the railway company. It was solidly constructed of local stone, with a refreshment room and a large bay-windowed house for the Stationmaster. From the station, a short branch was laid to the
canal basin to tap the commercial traffic in sand which was used in construction, as well as to facilitate the distribution of coal which arrived in
sloops from
South Wales. Although traffic was heavy in the early days, the decline set in during the interwar period with the introduction of chemical fertilisers and competition from road haulage services; freight facilities were eventually withdrawn in 1964, but in reality the station saw very little traffic in its latter years. The station did not see many changes during its 68-year life, but the track layout was modified somewhat in April/May 1939 to accommodate twelve coach trains. Longer trains comprising fifteen coaches or more were handled by dividing the train between the two platforms. Passenger services were never very frequent to Bude, although there were several useful daily through-coaches to London, with whole trains operating during Summer weekends. In addition, there was the
Atlantic Coast Express, a through train from
London Waterloo at 10:35, running non-stop from
Exeter St Davids to
Halwill, then calling at Holsworthy and Bude only, arriving at Bude at 15:25. Most trains conveyed through coaches to Padstow, usually marshalled in front of the Bude coaches in the down direction. The portions were divided at Halwill. The pattern of services changed after the handover of the line to the
Western Region of British Railways from 1 January 1963 when services became more local and the through-coaches to Waterloo were discontinued. The new operator was committed to
dieselisation and
DMU units were introduced from September 1964, resulting in the closure of Bude's engine shed. Bude's last direct link with London ended in Summer 1965 when the through-trains from Waterloo were diverted to
London Paddington and services now reversed at Exeter St Davids. This left Bude with only a local shuttle service to and from Okehampton for the final months of its life. It was, however, the final stronghold of the
Bulleid Pacifics which operated from the end of April 1962, appearing on excursion services and through-weekend trains. The station's closure in 1966 left residents of Bude and the surrounding area with Okehampton station, some away, as their nearest connection to the railway. This increased to in January 1972 when Okehampton itself closed, leaving Barnstaple as the nearest railhead. == The station today ==