ALMOST 700 people have signed a petition urging the Government to reinstate funding for vital cliff works above the rail line between Dawlish and Holcombe.

Phase 5 of the South West Rail Resilience Programme, the final stretch of the decade-long project to secure the iconic coastal line, was ‘paused’ in July’s spending review.

This should have been the fifth and final phase of the scheme to strengthen the cliff.

Network Rail has already completed four phases of the project to make the vulnerable seaside line more resilient, including a new sea wall and extensive work on Dawlish station.

The petition was launched by Modern Railways Deputy Editor and rail campaigner Andy Bowes-Roden who described the cliffs above the main line as the ‘Sword of Damacles’.

It has now gathered almost 700 signatures in less than two weeks.

Newton Abbot MP Martin Wrigley, who supports Mr Bowes-Roden’s campaign, has also started his own petition.

Mr Wrigley said: ‘Following the Government’s failure to include the final phase of the Dawlish Rail Resilience Project in its funding announcement, I have created a petition so we can demonstrate the strength of feeling around this project and how important it is to be completed.

‘This final phase is vital to protect not only our railway, but the communities and businesses beyond Dawlish and into Cornwall.’

Mr Bowes-Roden, who led a successful campaign to save the sleeper train service from closure in 2005, also has support from other local MPs and the former chairman of the regional Peninsular Transport body, Andrea Davis.

Mr Bowes-Roden said: ‘To be approaching almost 700 in just a fortnight gives a very good idea of how vital this railway is to so many people in our region.

‘We know from events in 2014 when Plymouth, Torbay and all of Cornwall were cut off from the rail network by a major cliff fall that the region’s economy suffers, and people cannot access work, healthcare, education and leisure without the railway.

‘That’s why completing the final phase of the resilience programme is so critical.

‘We need as many people as possible to sign the petition, write to their MP and to travel on the railway to make an inarguable case to Government that the full resilience programme must be completed.’

The Government announced it was pausing Phase 5 of the South West Rail Resilience Programme in July, saying: ‘We have already invested significantly in securing the cliffs and making the coastline more resilient and need to focus our investment on other projects around the country.

‘We will keep this scheme under review and for funding at future fiscal events.’

This phase is considered ‘crucial’ for fortifying railway infrastructure against potential rockfalls.

Mr Bowes-Roden said: ‘These cliffs were identified as by far the biggest geotechnical risk to the railway by Network Rail in 2014 after 20,000 tonnes of rock fell onto the railway, closing it for two months and they remain so.

‘Should they fall again, a huge area of the country will lose its only rail link for weeks and potentially months.’