West needs a secure secondary rail route

THE news that Devon County Council has failed in its bid for the £50,000 grant towards the business case for reopening of the railway line from Bere Alston to Tavistock, as it apparently did not satisfy the Department of Transport requirements, is unfortunate, but I understand they can re-apply.

Frankly, it is difficult to understand why they only applied in regard to this short piece of line when there is a far better business case that can be made for reopening the entire line back to Okehampton, which would benefit the South

West as a whole by providing an alternative route, particularly as the existing line from Okehampton is currently being updated in order to provide a regular service to Exeter, hopefully later this year.

It would seem that, despite Network Rail’s best efforts, the Dawlish line is still subject to temporary closure due to flooding, as was reported during the recent storms. While this may have been only a minor incident, it shows that this part of the line is still vulnerable, not only from bad weather but the possibility of collapse of the cliffs at Teignmouth.

As I understand, the line was surveyed by Network Rail as a possible alternative after the collapse at Dawlish a few years ago and costed at the time at £875 million, so any difficulties involved in reinstatement are already known.

I would urge DCC to rethink their application and put forward a strong business case to provide a secure secondary route in and out of the West. Paul Mercer

Tavistock