REINSTATING the railway from Tavistock to Bere Alston would strengthen the future of the existing Tamar Valley Line, members of the public were told at a meeting in Gunnislake last week.

Transport officers from Devon County Council attended the parish council-organised meeting in the Tamar?Valley Centre to discuss how their plans to reopen the line would impact on passengers travelling from Gunnislake and Calstock.

The £18.5-million railway will form part of a proposal to build 750 homes and a train station at Callington Road in Tavistock and could come to fruition between 2018 and 2020.

The single track Tamar Valley Line currently runs from Gunnislake to Plymouth via Bere Alston. One of the options the council is exploring is to run the main line from Tavistock to Plymouth with a shuttle service from Gunnislake to Bere Alston.

Another is to alternate the trains between Tavistock and Gunnislake so there is a service to each destination every two and a quarter hours.

A third idea to split the train at Bere Alston would cost an extra £2-million and it is therefore not such an attractive option. Bere Alston would have to become a fully signalling station under this proposal.

Fears that the service from Gunnislake and Calstock, which was described as a 'lifeline to the outside world', would deteriorate and may eventually be scrapped were laid to rest by council officers and Richard Burningham from the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, who said they understood how vital and well used the train service was.

The meeting was told that as many as 40 or 50 schoolchildren used the service to Plymouth each day as well as commuters, and the line, which travels through picturesque scenery, was popular with tourists.

Calstock parish councillor Dorothy Kirk asked why the main line could not be from Gunnislake and a shuttle from Tavistock. The main reason was because the population of Tavistock was larger and potentially there would be a greater demand for train travel,' said transport planning officer George Marshall.

He said that with the shuttle service there would be a five-minute changover time at Bere Alston and a higher frequency of trains than at the moment. This was likely to increase from nine to 13 on weekdays and include a later return train to Gunnislake.

Cllr Jerome Irons said at the moment it was difficult to go for a meal, the theatre or the cinema by train because you could not travel back later than 9.30pm.

Local resident Iris Crawford said she had used the service from Gunnislake to Plymouth to get to work but that involved a 13-hour day because the train times were so infrequent. But even with an hourly service from Tavistock, if this was possible on a single track line, she said she did not believe the demand would be there.

'In Gunnislake there is a demand because it is hard to get into Plymouth by public transport, particularly in the mornings.

'How many residents of Tavistock with a bus service every 15 minutes are going to use the train if it means freezing on a platform in January for over an hour?'

The meeting was told that some work had been done last summer, targetting road users between Tavistock and Plymouth and backing up the theory that there would be significant patronage of the line.

Mr Marshall said that in the long term the A386 was likely to get worse in journey times and rail travel would become more attractive. It was recognised that getting the timetabling right and the price were vitally important to the success of the project, which was in its very early stages.

The railway will be dependant on the housing development going ahead in Tavistock and have to go through many procedures, including a public inquiry before it becomes a reality.

Mr Marshall said whatever happened regards the reinstatement of the line the council was 'very, very clear' that it should not negatively impact on the existing service.

'We are aware of the growth in patronage that has taken place on the line in the last few years and the access and connections this line provides to the area, he said. 'We would assume the patronage will go up with the frequency of the service which strengthen the future of that line even more.'

Some 175,000 journeys were made on the Tamar Valley Line last year, which is two thirds more than six years ago.

To take part in the Devon County Council consultation on reinstating the Tavistock to Bere Alston line, go to: calstockparishcouncil.org.uk or pick up a questionnaire in the Tamar Valley Centre.