LET'S cut the romance and get to the nitty gritty! It's all very altruistic to think a railway connection to Plymouth will be a winner. We're being blackmailed when the provision of a railway is dependent on giving the provider a contract to build 750 houses, only 250 of which appeared in the original housing plan. Who is naive enough to think there is anything but profit for someone at our expense?

Who will actually use such a service, when first one has to get to the station inconveniently situated on the fringe of the town with totally inadequate parking provision?

How many commuters would use the service for work when the station is so far from the commercial centre?

Will tourists come to Tavistock this way when they find out there is a 15-minute walk to the town centre?

In other words, given the choice of the frequent bus service,why would anyone in their right mind elect to use the train?

Has anyone heard that we are in recession? £18-million (budget price, sure to go up?) could be well spent elsewhere, for instance, subsidising shop rents to attract the smaller interesting businesses which are currently being priced out of the town.

Please let's knock this daft plan on the head for once and for all.

Chris Dicker

via email

Just a thought for those saying 're-instating the rail link from Bere Alston to Tavistock is a waste of time'. Let's turn the whole thing around and ask, 'If the railway was still there, would we be discussing closing it and ripping up the track?'

I don't think so!

The sooner this link is replaced the better.

Stephen Fryer

Buckland Monachorum