South West Devon MP Rebecca Smith has been running a campaign to get more trains to stop at Ivybridge railway station.

She carried out a recent transport survey which showed that 94 per cent of the respondents who lived in Ivybridge thought that more trains should stop there and of that figure 80 per cent said they would be more likely to use the trains more often if they did so.

The Ivybridge Rail Users Group have been pushing for more improvements for some time and they together with Ms Smith have managed to secure some money from South Hams District Council and Network Rail for a feasibility study into the possibility of extending the platforms at Ivybridge station.

The platform length is the reason given for fewer trains currently stopping there.

Earlier this year Ms Smith had a meeting with the Managing Director of GWR who told here that the company were very keen to have more trains stopping at Ivybridge and Cross Country are also on board as are Network Rail.

Rebecca Smith MP said: "South Hams District Council and Network Rail are jointly funding a feasibility study to look at whether it’s possible to extend the platform.

“If the study finds that it is doable, the next step will be to campaign for Network Rail to fund the project itself.”

South Hams District Council's Executive Member for Economic Development, Cllr John Birch, said:"The Council has provided funding for a feasibility study to assess if extending Ivybridge Railway Station's platform is a viable option.

“The funding we have provided is for investigating and developing the proposal.

“This was identified as an opportunity in the Community Economic Plan for the town, which would allow more trains to stop at Ivybridge.

No time scale has yet been given for the possible platform extension.