RIGHT across the country Britain's railways are booming, with more passengers being carried than at any time since the early 1920s, when the network was far larger — 1.5-billion rail journeys are now taken each year, and the number is rising steadily.

Many communities are asking to be re-connected to the rail network, realising that a good rail service makes for easier commuting, better access to leisure, education and health facilities, while reducing the number of cars on our congested roads and being environmentally-friendly. And for those without access to a car, of which there are still many, the train opens up new travel opportunities — to visit family or markets, perhaps.

Plans for revived or new lines are being developed in London, the Bristol area, the North West and between Oxford and Cambridge, for example. Now it's West Devon's turn. Yes, West Devon, where the people of the Tamar Valley around Bere Alston, and in Tavistock and Okehampton, used to enjoy a main line link to Exeter, Salisbury and London in one direction, and to Plymouth in the other. But you have to be over 50 to remember it, as it was on May 5, 1968 that the Okehampton-Tavistock-Bere Alston line closed. Thankfully, the remaining, much-reduced service from Gunnislake and Bere Alston to Plymouth is today thriving.

In the South West, the Beeching-era closures, that left behind what railway enthusiasts call 'the withered arm' are argued to have been more political than economic, and the policy led to real hardship in market and seaside towns. Those, like your writer, who ardently support a growing rail network, see trains as bringing far greater prosperity to the towns they serve than is realised while they operate, and forecast when they are candidates for re-opening.

So, for want of the five-mile line from Bere Alston, Tavistock has been without trains for 44 years. But now, if the plans which have been developing for some years stay on track, they could return by 2015, and there are hopes that the far bigger challenge of completing the line back to Okehampton, and thence Exeter, could follow in the longer term. While through trains to London may be too much to ask, but many do, the potential for a Plymouth-Tavistock-Okehampton-Exeter route must surely be considerable, for commerce, tourism and the prosperity of the county.

Railway projects, even modest ones like this, move through the evaluation and planning process at a snail's pace, and it is possible that the government's desire to see increasing investment in infrastructure could speed the re-opening of the Tavistock rail line. But nevertheless, the plans put forward by Kilbride Community Rail ('Kilbride') and led by Devon County Council with the support of West Devon Borough Council, are now firmly on course. When Bovis Homes took on the residential development part of this unique project last year, it brought greater certainty the whole scheme would actually happen.

The basis of the idea was triggered a few years ago by the government's allocation to each English council a target number of new houses that should be built over time. This call for house building was coupled in Kilbride's thoughts with the scope of Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which could allow a 'roof levy' to be charged on the sale price of each new dwelling as part of the planning permission process. A small percentage of the sale price of each of the new houses to be built to the west of the town, will, in effect, be put into a pot which will fund the railway's construction. It's that that makes the Tavistock project unique in Britain, a way that will attract interest from many with similar aims elsewhere.

In essence the question Kilbride asked itself was 'where in the country is there a significant target for new house building where there is also a dis-used railway line which could sensibly be re- opened?' and which would bring benefits to the area as noted earlier. So, the company looked at the map, considered several alternatives for its first project, and selected Tavistock. West Devon Borough Council's target was 4,400 dwellings across the borough — 750 of these in Tavistock.

Once this allocation had become clear, Kilbride's first task was to convince the council and other interested parties that the rail was the best solution for Tavistock's road problems, and would help deliver a better residential development. If these homes could be built as one development, rather than scattered piecemeal around the town, then their numbers would be sufficient to re-build the railway to Bere Alston with a station at the heart of the new community. Kilbride's skill is in bringing the rail expertise, financial, engineering, house-building and political interests together to make the whole a possibility.

Why the need for rail?

Well, as Richard Burningham, manager of the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, which has been so influential in the success of the existing line, says: 'A half-hour journey time between Tavistock and Plymouth will, I am sure, be a real winner. At peak times, the road journey can take the best part of three times that.' And that's 30 minutes to go to Plymouth for work or shopping, and the same time for visitors to reach Tavistock, while the line will also help the many students, particularly from Bere Alston and Bere Ferrers, who currently travel daily by bus to Tavistock's schools, which are close to the proposed station.

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Progress so far . . .

The first meeting between Kilbride and the councils was in 2007, and by autumn 2008 a survey of the route, a structural specification for reinstatement of the line, and a 'geotechnical walkover' report, had all been completed. This was followed in 2009 by a detailed estimate of construction costs, put at £13.2-million. It's important to note that no government or council money, that is money from general or local taxation, is going into this project.

A passenger demand study, most recently up-dated in October 2010, gives a benefit:cost ratio of 3.5: this means that over a period of time for every one pound spent on the project, £3.50 will be gained in benefits. In terms of railway investment this is considered a very good figure.

The Bere Alston-Tavistock rail re-opening is also in Devon County Council's Local Transport Plan, and DCC, as the area's strategic transport authority, is leading the re-opening project. Bovis Homes will develop the main site, with the master plan for Tavistock's new dwellings, areas of employment, open spaces and community facilities to feature in the local plan now being worked on by WDBC. Bovis has bought the site options from Kilbride, which now acts as 'project facilitator', liaising not just with the councils and Bovis, but also with the Department for Transport, the Office of Rail Regulation and Network Rail, as well as with specialist consultants.

. . . and the way ahead

Building the railway will be relatively straightforward, Kilbride says, but securing planning approval and funding for such a large housing development is more complex, as it will bring some 2,000 extra people to a market town of 12,000 inhabitants.

In the future WDBC is expected to publish its master plan, which will, among other things, define the vision for Tavistock, including the transport infrastructure and the general outline of the housing development and the location of the station. Bovis is expected to submit a planning application, showing exactly what at least a part of the site will look like, by the end of this year. But the major activity both this year and next will be progressing an application for a Transport and Works Act Order, the granting of which is, under current rules, mandatory before a railway can be re-instated. As it stands, Devon County Council are leading the project and will make a decision on proceeding with the T+WAO in 2013, but your writer hopes that changing government policies may lead to a speedier and less costly route being available if those involved wish to follow it.

Before a T+WAO can be applied for, detailed reports on alignments and the cross-section of the track — looking at the cuttings and embankments to make sure they are compliant with modern rules (don't forget, the line was built in Victorian times when 'rules' were very different) — and the integrity of the bridges, the viaduct and tunnel, have to be prepared. An Environmental Impact Study, examining the railway's impact at different times of the year, such as hibernation or breeding seasons, also has to be done.

Devon County Council is currently undertaking some of these background surveys, and if the order were to be made, say, 18 months after the application, then construction could quickly begin, subject to setting up a Section 106 funding agreement.

Kilbride is hoping the line could open as early as December 2015 — but more likely it'll be spring 2016, which dates are tied into the bi-annual changing of railway timetables. By this time some of the new houses could also be occupied, and thus core patronage would develop in line with the housing.

Train services

Given that the current Bere Alston-Plymouth service operates for the vast majority of its route on a single line, without any signalling and on the 'one train on the line' principle, then until it has been demonstrated that passenger numbers will vastly outstrip forecasts, the revived service to Tavistock must be provided at the minimum cost. The levy on each new home will not cover any improvements to the existing railway, although other funds might be found in future, if such spending would be sensible.

Kilbride has developed a draft timetable (which will certainly change before it is finally implemented) which gives a service from Plymouth to both Tavistock and Gunnislake, needing only the minimum of extra carriages and crew, and no new signals. As with improving track and signals, providing additional carriages is very costly.

The proposed Tavistock-Plymouth service, although irregular, is timed to best suit commuters into Plymouth and the naval dockyard, and students travelling to Tavistock's schools and Plymouth's colleges, and gives eight trains a day to Tavistock, alternating with seven to Gunnislake, a level of service that is the most the single-line branch can take without capital spending.

The big problem is then what happens if demand does indeed exceed expectations — what can sensibly be done? Given the likely usage, and to maximise the benefit of the railway to the town — to allow for leisure trips both ways — an hourly all-day Plymouth-Tavistock service will be the ambition, while maintaining at least the present seven return services between Plymouth and Gunnislake.

The most obvious next step seemingly contravenes current rules, but it is the only solution which does not involve a serious increase in capital and operating costs. It goes like this. Two diesel units coupled together as a single train departs (say) every 90 minutes from Plymouth, and runs to Bere Alston. Then, while some trains could continue without splitting to Tavistock, generally the train would split, one part going to Tavistock, the other to Gunnislake and they would re-join on returning to Bere Alston. But as the rules stand, this would not be allowed, as there is no signalling at Bere Alston. Your writer hopes a simple solution can be found once this level of service is needed, since if any moving signals were required then the cost could be around £4-million. Perhaps a radio-based signalling system would be a solution.

But if that kind of regular frequency could be achieved, and is so successful that even more capacity is needed, say hourly to Tavistock and probably two-hourly to Gunnislake, some major works would be required, as trains would need to pass somewhere between St Budeaux and Bere Alston, and a loop to allow this would cost perhaps £10m.

An option to reduce this cost would be to operate the Gunnislake trains separately, running to and from a re-opened platform 1 at Bere Alston, and with a simple interchange there for Plymouth or Tavistock – but even that could cost £5m if it were deemed a disability-friendly footbridge was needed. This kind of money is not affordable for this kind of operation, not for many years at least. But, as I say, this is a unique project, and with goodwill, and the boom in patronage that is confidently expected, hopefully ways can be found to meet demand cost-effectively.

On the premise that the baseline timetable offers an alternate two- hourly service to both Tavistock and Gunnislake, Richard Burningham sums up the situation from the CRP perspective: 'What we'd rather see is the former branch platform brought back into use at Bere Alston. One idea I have floated is for this to be a cross-platform change, building out the island platform at Bere Alston to meet the Plymouth line.'

But as the train providing the Gunnislake service would still have to run from Plymouth at the start of the day and back at the end, it is not clear if even this would be allowed without new signalling. Yet another alternative is for the Gunnislake branch to have no physical connection to the Plymouth line, so as to obviate the need for signalling, then the unit would need to be maintained and fuelled on its own branch, without ever being able to run beyond Bere Alston: this again raises issues — on the railway nothing is straightforward!

While it is not yet decided who will build and own the line, it need not be Network Rail, it is probable that the services will be operated by the Great Western franchise, currently run by First, but where a new 15-year contract starts in April 2013. The likelihood of the Tavistock re-opening in 2016 is mentioned in the re-franchising documentation, so it is an aspect the new franchisee — which is not yet known will consider, and Kilbride and the county council have met with the short-listed bidders for the franchise, to appraise them of the plans, and to seek any ideas as to how things might be done even better.

An issue here is that the railway network is critically short of trains, the supply and allocation of which is closely controlled by the Government's Department for Transport. If the Tavistock line were to be opening now, there would be no trains available for the services, but a solution may be available from 2016, when diesel trains (which are the type needed for the line) will be available as the main line westwards from London to Bristol is electrified.

'What we're doing, privately funding a new passenger railway, is ground-breaking and very exciting,' Kilbride concludes, 'and the options, possibilities and potential are large. It'll be watched by a lot of people, and we want to get it right. Demand studies often turn out to be pessimistic, and we think that tourism will bring significant counter-peak revenue to the line, and the area.'

Richard Burningham sums up the wider aspirations: 'School children travelled by train from Bere Ferrers and Bere Alston to Tavistock right up until the line closed in 1968 and I hope things can be worked out so that their modern day successors follow in their footsteps when the railway reopens. I think too that as well as providing an attractive new option for people in Tavistock to get to Plymouth, with the right promotion, the new railway will give Tavistock a big boost in terms of attracting visitors.'