IF the South Devon route is a permanent alternative to Dawlish, it would be a shame to lose that gorgeous view on the journey, but understandable, both due to speed of service and cost of repair.

If however it is only to be used on days when Dawlish has bad weather; then I would suggest that the Okehampton route might have far more added advantages, with everyday local use compensating for it occasionally taking 20 minutes longer on the London route.

Dave James

Abbotsfield

Tavistock

I WRITE in response to Chris Dicker's questions re the proposed Bere Alston to Tavistock rail link in his letter to the Times of February 6.

Some of the answers to his questions can be found online in Devon County's submission to The Heart of the South West Local Transport Board.

According to this document, the predicted daily number of one way journeys on the new line by 2020 would be 542, resulting in 376 fewer cars per day using the A386 between Tavistock and Plymouth. 376 cars is not an enormous number if you consider that at peak times now about 1,200 vehicles an hour travel the A386 between Yelverton and Roborough alone!

On top of this, however, the funding submission states 'The railway will unlock LDF development which includes 1,500 homes across Tavistock as a whole, and 750 homes in an urban extension adjacent to the railway (which will provide a substantial contribution towards the cost of the railway). Within Plymouth it will assist the delivery of 4,500 homes . . . on the Northern Corridor by providing relief to the A386.'

One might be forgiven for thinking that the traffic generated by the proposed very significant number of houses planned along the A386, both in Tavistock and in Plymouth, would be so great as to make the figure of 376 look like less than a drop in the ocean.

It is ironic that the creation of a new rail link is being used as a pretext for a massive increase in housing and in traffic on an already congested road.

It is also, in my view, hypocritical to pretend that it is anything to do with the environment!

Dorothy Kirk

Gunnislake

SINCE my letter two weeks ago decrying the proposed Tavistock to Bere Alston railway, the events at Dawlish have opened a new debate.

Even in my grandchildren's lifetime I cannot see the Okehampton/Tavistock link being built. However, it would be far more enticing than the current proposals.

But, should the link be built, the ongoing route to Plymouth should be via the 'other' disused track, thus also serving Horrabridge, Yelverton, Clearbrook, Shaugh Prior, Roborough etc. Thus Derriford, Home Park and the commercial centres north of Plymouth would also be served, something the Bere Alston route would not offer.

Chris Dicker

Tavistock

NOW that the new railway proposed for Tavistock has become more prominent due to the current problems with the main rail connection to the Westcountry at Dawlish, I knew there would be letters about this subject in this week's paper.

However, I take great exception to the view expressed by S McQueen of Bere Alston, who states that there are 'only a few dwellings' in the way of the reinstatement of all the railbed in Tavistock, and they they would be 'dealt with' without a problem.

Well, my house would be about 20ft from the trains roaring past, if the section of the old railway, now a widlife walk, were used for large passenger trains again.

People's homes should not be regarded by people who would not be affected as problems. I bought my house in good faith that this part of the line would remain a quiet and peaceful wildlife walk, and thus I am not very impressed by the gung-ho attitude of people like your correspondent, who can't wait for these projects to go ahead, because he and his home will not be affected.

What do the people of Tavistock who live near the proposed railway lines think about these new developments?

Catherine Trafford-Smith

Meadow Brook

Tavistock