DARTMOOR Railway?s campaign to restore a daily service between Okehampton and Exeter is building up a head of steam after local decision-makers got on board the drive for a daily link.

A rail journey was staged last Saturday evening for councillors, MCTI members and local authority representatives to see for themselves the advantages the service could offer.

John Love, marketing manager for Dartmoor Railways said: ?We were very pleased with the support.?

He said since launching the campaign a month ago, a petition to safeguard the option of a daily service had received more than 1,200 signatures.

Mr Love said the railway management would be meeting later this week to decide what its next step in the campaign would be. ?We have to look forward now to decide what we do next. We can?t afford to keep letting things go on,? he said.

Representatives from West Devon Borough Council, Okehampton Town Council, Okehampton Hamlets Parish Council and Devon County Council were among those who took the train journey from Okehampton Station to Coleford Junction stopping at proposed sites along the way.

The railway wants to safeguard the option of a daily commuter link between Okehampton to Exeter before the opportunity is permanently lost to the area.

Dartmoor Railway say there are two major steps to achieve this. They say a new parkway station in Okehampton needs to be constructed and promoted to support the service. The only land considered suitable for such a station is now up for sale. The railway say the site to the east of Okehampton would have room for 200 parking spaces and would be easily accessible from the A30.

Dartmoor Railway want this proposed site added to the local plan and safeguarded for future use.

The second stage in the railway?s long term plan is for a station at North Tawton which would give the opportunity to gain wider support from other communities.

Mr Love said it was important for the project that the station increase the coverage to get to the target of 1000 passenger journeys a day to ensure it becomes a viable financial proposition.

He said this was a ?big and important challenge that must be addressed?.

Okehampton Town Clerk Don Bent was among those who took advantage of the opportunity to see the route for himself. ?It really is a very picturesque route. Generally speaking, the town council is supportive,? he said.

Chris Dunford, West Devon Borough Council?s principle forward planning officer said more information was now available about the potential parkway site which Dartmoor Railway wanted designated in the local plan.

Mr Dunford said shortly before the closure of the local plan inquiry, the inspector had received a letter from Dartmoor Railway which said they had recently been able to confirm the site as the only suitable site in Okehampton.

?They have confirmed to the inspector the site. The inspector will take it into account. He might recommend that we allocate the site. We?ll have to await his report,? said Mr Dunford.

He added: ?We still support the principle of a reinstatement of a full service between Okehampton and Exeter.?

Dartmoor Railway was this week given an extra boost by the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP) which cited the company as a model for other locally run railways.

Peter Roberts, vice-chair of ACoRP said the model of Dartmoor Railway should be ?applied creatively? to develop a vision for a top quality rural rail network across the country.