PLANS to revive a regular train service from Okehampton to Exeter took a giant leap forward this week with the news that a site has been secured for a new station which can facilitate up to 200 cars.

The Okehampton United Non-Ecclesiastical Trust has safeguarded an area of land near Exeter Road industrial units for future use by the railway, which is key to the project going ahead.

Dartmoor Railway spokesman John Love, who presented a petition of more than 2,000 signatures in support of the rail link at a meeting of West Devon Borough Council on Tuesday, said plans could steam forward now the land had become available to the railway.

'It is a very positive move — securing the land is vital to restoring the service and this really is the only suitable site because of the contours of the land and the accessibility from the A30,' he said.

Mr Love told West Devon councillors that the railway company had been taken by storm by the support for a regular train service to Exeter.

'The message from the people of Okehampton is that we are going to do this whatever happens,' he said.

'It will benefit Okehampton economically and there is also a lot of benefit for Exeter.

'We have support from Okehampton Town Council and the Okehampton Market and Coastal Towns Initiative, plus I have had numerous e-mails from councillors throughout Devon and Cornwall wishing us well.'

Mr Love has asked for the support of the borough council and financial help in order to carry out a feasibility study testing the viability of the project. It is expected to cost around £20,000.

He said it was not Waterloo or Euston, but the railway had an ambition to keep the 50s-style which was such a hit at Okehampton Station.

As well as land for a parkway station, the railway wants to put a station in North Tawton, which would give the opportunity to gain wider support from other communities.

Borough councillors will discuss the railway plans at the next economic, leisure and community development committee.

Dartmoor Railway owns the longest historical railway line in the country — 15 miles — and currently runs the Dartmoor Pony steam train from Okehampton to Meldon, other tourist trips to Sampford Courtenay and trains to Exeter on a Sunday throughout the summer season.

Hundreds of people travel by car from Okehampton to work in Exeter each day and thousands more travel to the city from further down in Devon and Cornwall via the A30.

Mr Love said a commuter service from Okehampton would be valuable to more than 20,000 people coming from the A30 towards Exeter. Surveys on who would use the service will be part of the feasibility study.

The rail link will form part of Okehampton's Community Plan under the town's Market and Coastal Town Initiative, which is about rural regeneration and is expected to draw down millions of pounds of funding from the Government and other sources.

Town mayor Christine Marsh, who is chairman of the Okehampton United Non-Ecclesiastical Trust, said it was exciting that the charity was looking to the future and supporting this initiative.

She said: 'The land will be available for a future use by the railway, however long it takes to get the project off the ground.

'It is wonderful to think we could be providing a means of travel other than the car for thousands of people who want to go to Exeter, on to London and beyond.'