WEST Devon rail groups rejected claims this week by Network Rail that the re-opening of the Okehampton-Tavistock rail line would not offer 'value for money'. With the Government looking to improve transport links to the South West following the debacle of the rail line collapsing at Dawlish earlier this year, alternatives are being considered for the Plymouth-Exeter rail route. With four options ranging from £400- million to £3-billion the Okehampton-Tavistock reinstatement and upgrade has an estimated cost of £500-million. Richard Searight, the chairman of the Peninsula Rail Group, said: The Network Rail report is primarily an engineering report and any cost benefit analysis for our line has to be in relation to the development of the whole region. The PRG argues that the regional economic value of the reinstatement of the Okehampton / Tavistock line is valued at hundreds of millions per year to West, Central and North Devon — for decades to come. Mr Searight told the Times: 'From an engineering point of view shoring-up Dawlish is always going to be the cheapest solution. 'The South West will have run out of rail capacity within a few years but that is not their immediate problem.' Mr Searight said the travelling public would continue to suffer delays on the Plymouth line for track maintenance or weather because there was no other mainline route into the South West. He said: 'There also seems to be a lack of commercial intelligence which will hopefully be in the later report. 'The good news is that the restoration of the Okehampton/Tavistock line is substantially the cheapest inland line option and has virtually the same line speed as the other routes. 'The total cost of restoring our railway would be less than the recent improvements to Reading station or one fiftieth of HS2 (the high speed line proposed from London to Birmingham and to the north)! 'The Tavistock / Okehampton route is cheap and vital to the continuing development of our region.' He has urged those who wish to join the campaign for the northern (Okehampton-Tavistock-Plymouth) line go to the website at http://www.prg.2day.ws">www.prg.2day.ws or 01822 860148. PRG was backed in its response by Destination Okehampton Working Group (DOWG). The DOWG group has produced a report to Devon County Council about the benefits of the former LSWR line. Chris Bligh, a spokesman from DOWG, responded to the Network Rail report. 'There is much that is positive here but also a few "errors". While the report is generally very good it must be pointed out that the Okehampton/Tavistock line would regenerate a significant area of Devon and Cornwall. These economic measures are necessarily not included in the Network Rail report as this is an engineering and cost appraisal only. This is another big plus for this route. In the Network Rail report all routes were described as poor value for money. However, the Okehampton Route is the only one that provides additional traffic. It is probable, particularly with Sourton Park and Ride picking up some of the 100,000 people in the area not connected to a rail line, that although the revenue gained would not cover the capital expenditure, it would cover the running costs of the line. It would also generate extra business in Plymouth and Exeter as well. Mr Bligh says that optimisation times from Plymouth to Exeter could be as little as 57 minutes with HST trains and even less with Voyager types. 'In summary the Okehampton/Tavistock line is the cheapest (by some £500million) , solves resilience problems over a far greater area, is capable of handling all traffic, and will generate new custom much more effectively than other options.' He believed that 'Network Rail would prefer just to strengthen the current line as the cheapest alternative.' Mr Bligh concluded of the proposed the northern route: 'It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to regenerate large areas, creating new business opportunities and wealth, improve rail services on lines that already have them and open up new passengers to the railway.'