High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Devon and Somerset Railway (D&SR) was a cross-country line from Norton Fitzwarren in Somerset to Barnstaple in Devon, England. It was opened between 1871 and 1873, and closed in 1966. Although an independent company until 1901, it was operated from the outset by the Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER) which was part of the Great Western Railway (GWR) from 1876.