LABOUR has pulled the plug this week on plans to reconnect Tavistock to the rail network, Torridge and Tavistock MP Sir Geoffrey Cox has confirmed.

Sir Geoffrey received a letter from a transport minister on Wednesday, July 31 informing him Labour had cancelled the plans, announced by the Conservative government last year, to reconnect Tavistock and Bere Alston by rail as part of the “Restoring Your Railway” programme.

“The ‘Restoring Your Railway’ Scheme was chiefly designed to bring economic growth and opportunity to mainly rural areas deprived of any link to the rail network,” said Sir Geoffrey.

“I am dismayed and disappointed the Labour government has chosen to cancel this important project that would have brought vital economic growth to West Devon’s communities and would have built on the success of the reopening of the Dartmoor Line between Okehampton and Exeter. 

“The green light for the rail link given last year, and now withdrawn by Labour, was the product of years of hard work, of careful groundwork by Devon County and West Devon Borough Councils, and the dedication of campaigners such as Tavi-Rail, all of whom made a very strong economic and social case for the restored railway.”

Plans to reinstate the line were announced in October last year after former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak scrapped the multi-billion pound construction of the HS2 line.

West Devon leaders had welcomed the news as a massive boost to investment and access to the region.