Devon County Council has been allocated £50k in funding to develop the business case for the Tavistock to Plymouth railway.
The council says e-opening the link between Tavistock and Plymouth will encourage people to use rail services, helping to ease congestion on the A386 and reduce carbon emissions.
The money came from the Ideas Fund of the Restoring Your Railway programme. and will be used to produce a Strategic Outline Business Case and update extensive survey work already undertaken on the route.
Shillamill Viaduct
The project will aim to reinstate the disused rail line between Tavistock and Bere Alston to provide hourly rail services through to Plymouth, as well as opening a new single platform railway station at Tavistock next to the 750 dwelling development under construction. Two-hourly services between Plymouth and Gunnislake would be maintained.
The council hopes that improving rail connectivity will boost access to employment, education and healthcare for residents in Tavistock and West Devon as well as providing better access to Dartmoor National Park. Increasing rail services will also benefit the communities of St Budeaux, Keyham and Devonport in Plymouth with more frequent city connections.
Tavistock North Station
Councillor Andrea Davis, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment and Transport, said: “Reinstating this rail link is vital to support growth in Devon and to help reduce carbon emissions. We’ve submitted a strong bid for funding to help us work up an outline business case. We’ve already undertaken feasibility studies, conceptual design and operational planning with technical support and advice from GWR and Network Rail. The Department for Transport has recognised that a lot of work that has already been carried out to develop the Tavistock to Plymouth rail link and we’re hopeful they’ll help us progress this scheme further.”
The reinstatement of the rail line to Tavistock is identified in the 20-year plan of the Peninsula Rail Task Force, highlighting it as a key second phase for the Northern Route between Plymouth and Exeter via Tavistock, following on from the planned reinstatement of services between Okehampton and Exeter last year.
Preparatory work has been carried out by Network Rail on signalling at Bere Alston, where the line currently terminates, in advance of the possible return to trains to Tavistock.
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