THERE is no doubt the ongoing furore about the Devon and Cornwall railways was caused by the major storm damage a couple of years ago to the railway line at Dawlish. If the current long range weather and the sea level forecasts are correct there is no doubt the whole episode is going to happen again, and it may well be worse in the future — that line of houses above the railway could well join the railway line on the beach. A Cornwall councillor once said on the television news: 'You cannot beat the sea forever, there comes a time when you have to give up and retreat to safer ground.' The railway authorities must plan and deal with that situation before it happens, either by reopening an old 'Beechinged' line into Torbay or by building the tunnel that has been suggested to bypass the cliff edge track and go directly to Dawlish Station. All of the discussions seem to be about the feasibilities of re-opening one of the two lines through Tavistock. I cannot see how it would be possible to replace either of the lines or the stations on their original positions. There are far too many new, important buildings on those original sites. There are surgeries, police, fire and ambulance stations, the local council offices, a large block of old peoples' flats and a large estate of privately owned houses. It would be possible for the railway engineers to design a route between Okehampton and Plymouth avoiding Tavistock altogether, joining the existing single track railway line near Wottons Farm, which goes directly on to Plymouth main station. This does not mean that I think it is a good idea. Plymouth already has a good line from Exeter (or it will have when something has been done about the vulnerable area of the railway at Dawlish). However, Plymouth provides only the one line into Cornwall. To me it makes more sense to extend the line from Okehampton across a rebuilt Meldon viaduct onto the cycle track for about a hundred yards, turn left onto the old line to Halwill and follow that round the north edge of Bodmin moor to Bodmin and beyond. To summarise: l The Dawlish cliff edge line must be bypassed. l It is impossible to re-open a line through Tavistock. l It is possible to plan a new line from Okehampton to Plymouth by-passing Tavistock, but there does not seem to be much point in it. l Any line west from Okehampton should connect to North Cornwall. Rodney Smith Lydford