A WOMAN from Bere Alston was the 5,000th customer to purchase the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership's Tamar Valley Line Carnet ticket. Tamar Valley Line Carnets are discounted books of ten single tickets for travel on the scenic Plymouth to Gunnislake branch line and are only sold at participating local shops and post offices along the route. The 5,000th book was sold to Christina Grant who purchased it at Bere Alston Post Office. To celebrate the event she will be presented with a free return ticket for two to anywhere on the First Great Western network and a free book of carnets. Christina said: 'Because of carnet tickets I now leave my car at home and travel to Plymouth by train. 'Carnets are also used by my three teenage children. We enjoy the freedom of travelling to Plymouth when we want without the hassle of traffic jams and the expense of parking.' Julian Crow, West of England general manager for First Great Western, said: 'This is an excellent example of the way in which community rail partnerships are helping to increase business on our local lines with a simple and effective way of selling discounted tickets at local shops and post offices. 'It helps to make using the trains easy and is another reason why more and more people are using the local rail network.' The scheme has also won two prestigious national awards, one for Marketing Community Rail and one for innovation in the rail industry.
