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Unfinished plans to safeguard the future of the coastal railway in South Devon have been criticised on the seven year anniversary of the storm that left the rail line swinging over the sea.

Network Rail is forging ahead with the involving Europe's only 'wavewalker' barge to protect the line from the sea for the next 100 years in Dawlish.

Construction of this section of the £80 million upgrade will take around two years to complete and follows years of detailed studies, designs and joint working between world-leading marine, coastal and railway engineering experts.

But part of the wider scheme further along the line between Parson's Tunnel and Teignmouth which involves moving the line 'out to sea', claiming much of Holcombe beach, to protect the line from cliff falls have been paused in the face of huge opposition, led by the Save Teignmouth Beach campaign.

And there are fears that it will be at least another seven years until that crucial phase of work begins.

The line is the only rail route west of Exeter and is a vital for economic growth and reliable services into the whole of the South West.

It is seven years since it was swept into the sea overnight on February 4 and 5, 2014.

Tudor Evans, leader of Plymouth City Council, said: "We need a fast resilient railway and we are not even half way to securing one.

"At the time when all the talk in Government is all about HS2 what can we do to get the Government to listen to us?

"I cannot think of another city or region of our size in the country that the government would dare treat like this.

"My call is for our MPs to make some demands like their counterparts elsewhere are doing. We need them to put on the pressure, we need urgency to make sure our message is heard."

Gary Streeter, MP for South West Devon raised the issue of the Dawlish rail line with Chris Heaton Harris, Minister of State (Department for Transport) on Thursday, January 28.

He asked for assurances that work to secure the cliff face on the route from Parsons Tunnel towards Teignmouth would not be delayed or compromised.

Heaton-Harris responded: "We remain committed to improving the resilience of this vital transport artery. Network Rail is continuing to develop proposals for further phases of the resilience programme, using £17.2 million of Government funding that has already been given."

Last October, Network Rail announced it was refining its plans on the plans for Parson's Tunnel that will impact on the beach. It plans a further round of public consultation this year.

A Network Rail spokesman said: “Our proposed project to realign the railway track between Parson’s Tunnel and Teignmouth, has not been abandoned.

“Following feedback from the local community we are refining our plans as we look to protect the vital stretch of railway through Teignmouth, which is the only railway line which connects the south west with the rest of the country.

“We will be updating the local community later this year and as with all government-funded projects, the timeline for the project is dependent on receiving funding approval.”

Mr Streeter said: "In reality it is a process. It was a pity the all-singing all-dancing scheme was beaten off by planning objectors, but Network Rail assure me this is a huge priority for them. I will keep the pressure on."

But Tim Jones, Chairman of the South West Business Council said the scheme so far was like a 'half-baked cake'

He said: "This is an extreme example of dithering and delay. There is no point in doing half of the job. The line is still vulnerable from cliff falls and we are at risk of being cut off in the future.

"How can we even start thinking of 'levelling up' without a 21st century infrastructure that will get us there?"

A ferocious storm battered the south Devon coastline in Dawlish overnight on February 4 and 5, causing significant damage to the railway track, leaving thousands of people without power and forcing many local residents to abandon their homes.

The South West was effectively cut off until the track reopened in April - just eight weeks after the storm damage.

The then Prime Minister David Cameron was among the first to travel by train on the re-opened line and praised the Herculean effort of the 'orange army' - the team of 300 Network Rail engineers worked day and night to rebuild the track and restore the railway.

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