MAY I encourage the county council to go forward with its assessment of reopening the section of railway from Tavistock to Bere Alston. In the 40 years since the line was closed Tavistock has grown in size and with continuing development this could only bring in yet more motor vehicles ? approximately two to three per household ? to this busy market town. There is a need now more than ever to look for transport other than the motor car. With the already limited parking in Tavistock this would give the opportunity for tourists to be able to visit the town from Plymouth or further afield without having to use their car. Commuter transport would only be a small proportion of the possible benefits the railway would bring to Tavistock. People now travel further to work, even flying overseas. A rail link to the main network would prove a benefit to them. I?m sure many people have experienced the daily congestion of driving to Plymouth on these already overcrowded road and would welcome the railway as another form of transport apart from road travel if it were available. Mark Buckley 17 Uplands Tavistock WITH regard to the proposed reinstatement of the line between Bere Alston and Tavistock, while this is welcome, I feel that it is only going to be really viable if it is tied in with a plan for reopening the whole line back to Exeter via Okehampton in order to provide an alternative route to the West. The bulk of the original formation is still intact and although it would be expensive to reinstate and would involve some compulsory purchasing of land and property, it would be nothing like the cost of purchasing land or the cost of construction of a new line through South Devon if or when the present line around Dawlish succumbs to the sea, which appears to be inevitable in the not too distant future. Should that happen the West Country would be almost bereft of a railway west of Exeter ? or perhaps is this what the Government wants, given their apparent lack of interest in transport to Devon and Cornwall? What I would really like to know is if West Devon Borough Council and particularly Devon County Council will support the reopening of the whole line. If not, the idea is dead. Paul Mercer Ivy Cottage Peter Tavy MAY I, please, through your columns assure John Taylor (Letters, April 27) that I am not living in the past when I regard the Bere Alston to Tavistock railway project as pie in the sky. Rather I am living in the present and trying not to view the future through rose coloured specs. In his letter he avoids commenting on the running costs of such a project or its profitability. Experience of low density commuter services shows that the former would be very high and the latter non existent. And his expectation of a 30-minute journey between Tavistock and Plymouth stations ignores intermediate station stops and the speed restrictions imposed by the light railway regulations. Nor does he suggest who might subsidise those high operating costs. If private enterprise did not do so the poor taxpayer would, again, be left to pick up the bill. John would be disappointed in the scheme, especially when wearing his property developer hat. As to travel on the A386 road, it is slow only at the rush hours. The only major improvement, now that there is the new intersection and park-and-ride bus station at the George Inn, would be a fly-over at the Derriford roundabout. The terrain is ideal for it and the Manadon fly-over in a similar situation shows how beneficial it would be. G Kirkpatrick Parkwood Road Tavistock
