THE possibility that the railway will return to Okehampton continues to gather steam, as the Government has confirmed a new study looking at the reinstatement of the track.

The Department for Transport has confirmed that a feasibility study is to be carried out into reviving the former London and South Western Railway route from Exeter to Plymouth via Okehampton and Tavistock.

Details of the study have been revealed in the Government's National Infrastructure Plan. In February rail bosses mulled over five alternative rail options to the main line at Dawlish following the destruction of part of the track by severe storms. These alternatives included three options between Newton Abbot and Exeter via Teignmouth, or creating a new line connecting existing freight lines from Alphington and Heathfield.

The decision to carry out another study on the Okehampton line raises hopes that the Government is paying serious consideration to reconnecting passenger services to the town. The line through Dawlish would almost certainly remain as the main line for the region, but the Okehampton line could act as a complement to that line and offer an alternative, should a similar situation arise again to the one that saw vast parts of the region cut off from rail links due to heavy storms earlier this year.

The latest costing to be aired for a re-instated northern route is around £850-million, a considerable saving, say its supporters, compared with the £3-billion to dig a tunnel under Haldon Hill to avoid the Dawlish seafront.

Under the National Infrastructure Plan the Government will support Network Rail in its work to improve the resilience of the railway at Dawlish. Additionally, it will ask Network Rail to examine wider issues surrounding connectivity to and within the South West peninsula.

Specifically, Network Rail will consider alternatives to the current mainline route to the South West via Dawlish, including an alternative route via the north side of Dartmoor through Okehampton as part of Network Rail's industry plan for 2019-2024.

Okehampton Town Councillor Dr Michael Ireland, chair of Destination Okehampton — a town council working group — was sceptical of the announcement, saying in a letter to the Times: 'Chapter four of the National Infrastructure Plan mentions an "alternative route via the north side of Dartmoor through Okehampton" and that is the last we hear of the line or the town in the plan.'

Referring to the proposed Network Rail £38-billion programme he added:?'What proportion of the £38-billion will be invested on this line, if any? Waiting until 2019 for work to start on the railway is not satisfactory. Doing nothing in the wake of this announcement is not an option. We must attract investment in the line and as part of this, Destination Okehampton with partner councils, is proposing an independent study of the economic and social benefits of the northern line.

'Destination Oke-hampton will continue to undertake research and campaign through our council to government for real action to establish this important railway to safeguard services to Plymouth and Cornwall and benefit the economy of West Devon, Torridge and North Cornwall.'

Devon County councillor for Okehampton Rural Kevin Ball said: 'It is a positive statement in that the northern route is mentioned specifically, but we're not not quite there yet.

'It is not a commitment but it is a step in the right direction. I am cautiously optimistic about the way things are going but region-wide local councils, authorities and other groups such as Destination Okehampton and the Peninsula Rail Group, who have played a major part so far, need to continue pressing our case for South West connectivity to central government.'

The Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, a non-profit organisation, which promotes travel on rural branch lines and seeks improvements to services and facilities, has been heartened by news of the feasibility study.

Manager Richard Burningham said he was disappointed that the Network Rail report in the summer came out with a very high price for re-opening the line across Dartmoor and said it was 'very good' that a detailed feasibility study was now to be done.

However, he told the Times: 'Personally I would expect to come up with a significantly lower cost.

'The top priority has to be doing everything necessary to strengthen the route through Dawlish and the Government is supporting this.

'Even with this though, we still need an additional route for those, hopefully very few, times when the Dawlish route can't be used.

'I believe the Okehampton line would offer all year round benefits to local people and would boost the local economy, while giving us the additional route between Exeter and Plymouth, just in case.

'I look forward to the completion of the feasibility study next spring.'