THERE are hopes that the Tamar Valley Line could be linked with the Looe Valley Line under a new initiative.
The franchise for the Tamar Valley Line, currently operated by Wessex Trains, has been extended to the end of March 2006.
Richard Burningham, manager of Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, said a link between the two lines had been suggested under a Community Rail Initiative. This would see the lines being managed locally, which has been done successfully elsewhere.
?It would be a very positive way forward,? he added.
?We are waiting for the Strategic Rail Authority to publish their programme to see what they have decided,? he said. If the link was accepted it would mean ?something intensely interesting happening between now and 2006?.
If the Tamar Valley Line ? which connects Bere Ferrers, Bere Alston, Calstock and Gunnislake with Plymouth ? is included in the Community Rail Initiative, it could also help in pushing for the link to Tavistock to be re-introduced, Mr Burningham said.
He stressed there was no threat to the line and that it would be included in a greater western franchise, which would include the lines to London, when the current franchise came to an end.