RAIL REOPENING SCHEMES

Exeter-Okehampton-Tavistock-Plymouth

THE damage caused by storms in February 2014 cut off England’s South West peninsular from the railway network.

At Dawlish, which is regularly subjected to the ravages of rough seas, 80 metres of track were washed away, severing the main (and only) line linking Cornwall and much of Devon (including Plymouth) with Exeter and London.

A major repair operation succeeded in making the line fit for reopening eight weeks later, but it prompted calls to investigate the resurrection of an alternative route between Exeter and Plymouth, via Okehampton and Tavistock, known as the ‘Northern Route’.

Torridge & West Devon MP Geoffrey Cox, supported by three other local MPs, is sponsoring a bid by the Northern Route Working Group (NRWG) for funding from the Restoring Your Railway scheme to develop a preliminary strategic outline business case.

Devon County Council already has plans to reopen the 5½ miles of line between Tavistock and Bere Alston on the Tamar Valley Line, which would restore the town’s rail link with Plymouth. The council is also making a bid to the scheme to advance this project.

“It’s really important that we have more connectivity in the west side of Devon and for those people who currently live in Tavistock and that surrounding area who are plagued with a big congestion problem when they go into Plymouth,” says Andrea Davis, Devon County Council’s cabinet member for infrastructure and development. “More than 20 per cent of the Tavistock workforce actually commute into Plymouth and 94 per