Tony Fyson, Above Town, Dartmouth, chairman, Dartmouth and Kingswear Society, writes: In the aftermath of the winter storm damage at Dawlish, the Dartmouth and Kingswear Society convened a public discussion of railway futures and backed suggestions for the re-establishment of mainline rail services into Kingswear, Since then, I have attended meetings of a community forum created to monitor and agree priorities for significant improvements to services and stations along the 'Riviera Line' running between Exeter St David's, Newton Abbot and Paignton. Set up as a committee of the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership and supported by the EU-funded Citizens' Rail project, the group gathers the views of local councils, social organisations, railway interests and business people about how the Riviera Line can improve its services and help to enhance and promote the areas that it passes through. The last meeting was presented with 'wish list' proposals drawn up by consultants to spend nearly £2 million on station improvements. It remains a very serious matter that despite having a functioning railway line in their midst, Dartmouth and Kingswear are at present deprived of an extension to a mainline rail service which is potentially an important instrument of economic and social improvement. It cannot be beyond the competence of people of goodwill and concern for our area's prosperity to devise mainline uses of the track between Paignton and Kingswear that do not damage the interests of the existing steam railway company. The desperate years of post-beeching decline in rail usage are over and the Dartmouth area must surely be given every chance to benefit from the current national rail revival. But simply asserting this is not enough. The social and environmental case for rail travel has to be supported by a convincing financial plan, acceptable to the steam railway company. The town owes a huge debt to the company both for keeping the rail line working and significantly enhancing our tourism base. The D&K Society has already called for a professional feasibility study of the case for re-establishing mainline rail services and has researched the possibility of engaging a proper rail consultancy for the purpose. After a series of discussions, we are now launching a public campaign to raise the £10,000 needed to fund this work. As a first step, to gauge interest, we are asking for confidential pledges of financial support in writing to chairman, Dartmouth and Kingswear Society c/o The Flavel, Dartmouth TQ6 9ND.