EXPERTS believe a restored railway between Tavistock and Plymouth could be as successful as the reopened line at Okehampton.

The Dartmoor Line, which reopened last year, has seen passenger numbers travelling between Okehampton and Exeter exceed all expectations.

Members of the Tavistock and Okehampton Reopening Scheme (TORS), a group made of former railway and engineering experts, are certain a bid by Devon County Council to reopen part of the same stretch of line between Tavistock and Plymouth would also be a success.

The Government has already weighed in with £50,000 worth of funding to Devon County Council to prepare a business case for the restoration of the line between Tavistock and Bere Alston, which is already linked to Plymouth by rail. County council chiefs are expected to submit the business case to the Department for Transport – who are said to be keen on the project – this summer.

If the bid is successful and further funding gets the green light, the line could be reopened within the next five years.

Preparatory signalling work for the line’s restoration has already started at Bere Alston, which also has a rail link to Gunnislake.

TORS director Andy Roden said he thought the success of the Dartmoor Line would also be reflected by the Tavistock proposal. TORS are currently engaged in a long-term scheme to reopen the entire route from Plymouth to Exeter via Tavistock and Okehampton across northern Dartmoor.

Mr Roden said: ‘A lot of work has already gone into the business case for reopening the Tavistock to Plymouth section of the line and they (Devon County Council) have already acquired most of the land for the track bed. There are a few (engineering) things to be done, but not that many. The Dartmoor Line has been far more successful than any of its most optimistic supporters could have thought it would be and I think the Tavistock line will happen by the end of the decade, if not before.’

Richard Searight, chairman of the Peninsula Rail Group, campaigning for the reopening of the railway at Tavistock, said he also believed the project would get the go-ahead.

He said: ‘I was at a meeting with the Bere Ferrers council last week, which was well-attended and I think everyone has been enlivened by it (the return of the line). I just hope it will get the funding it needs. When the Tavistock section reopens, we’ll wait for ten minutes, then we’ll get on with the plan to get the entire line open. That is something we are committed to.’

A restored rail service is seen by supporters as an answer to steadily-increasing fuel costs and as a means to get motor vehicles off the traffic-clogged A386 from Tavistock to Plymouth, which is said to be impassable at times.

The number of trains on the Dartmoor line increased from last Sunday, with services switching from a two-hourly service to one every hour.

Network Rail said: ‘The restored line has been hugely popular, with more than 50,000 journeys undertaken in the first 20 weeks since the line reopened, more than double the number predicted.’