RAIL LINK: "RIGHT IDEA AT THE RIGHT TIME"

12.06.18pm GMT Sat 29th Mar 2008

The proposed rail loop

Stephen Gilbert, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for St Austell & Newquay, has said that the plan to improve the service and capacity on the Newquay-Par-St Austell branch line is "the right idea at the right time."

Stephen Gilbert was speaking at a public exhibition, at the Hotel Bristol, organised by local group Focal (Friends of the Atlantic Coast Line) who were exhibiting the plans to boost capacity, improve Newquay station and to create a new rail loop in the clay area.

FoCAL have devised a comprehensive plan for the regeneration of the station and the Newquay-Par-St Austell line. They want to see an improved service, increased frequency and flexibility in an effort to attract more users and the reinstatement of the rail link from Burngullow to St Dennis - creating a new rail loop in the clay area.

Stephen Gilbert added: "Rising fuel costs, the possibility of thousands of new homes in the clay area, and the need to ensure good links between Newquay and St Austell for those who work in, and visit, our area mean that this is the right idea at the right time."

"I would like to congratulate the volunteers of Focal for the hundreds of hours of hard work they have put into bringing this project this far. It's now up to local politicians to push it forward and I hope that everyone will work together to make the scheme a reality."