THE manager of the body which promotes the Barnstaple to Exeter "Tarka Line" and other rail branch lines in Devon and Cornwall was awarded an MBE in the New Year's Honours.

Richard Burningham has been the manager of the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership since 1998.

He was awarded the MBE for "Services to the Railway Industry in the South West".

Mr Burningham has a long involvement with the Tarka Line which began with an 18-month spell as British Rail's Travel Centre Manager at Barnstaple station in the mid 1980s.

The Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership is a non-profit partnership of local authorities, including Cornwall Council, Devon County Council and Plymouth City Council, First Great Western and the University of Plymouth.

The Partnership works to promote travel on six rural branch lines in the two counties, seeks improvements to services and facilities, works to boost the local economies of the places served through their rail link and to link the community and rail industry.

Established in 1991, it is the longest established of Britain's 60 Community Rail Partnerships and one of the largest too.

Its work on the Tarka Line includes running the Tarka Line Forum, publicity initiatives such as the Tarka Line Rail Ale Trail and support for local community groups, the Tarka Rail Association and the Friends of Crediton Station.

The Partnership helped the Tarka Rail Association with its award winning Tarka Line Walks booklet, both with funding and distributing the guide. The Partnership has recently funded a reprint of the booklet.

The MBE rounds off a very big 2009 for the Partnership. Each of the six branch lines it focuses on has its best ever timetable and, with one full month of figures still to come in, already more than 1.5 million journeys have been made on the branch lines, up 19 per cent on 2008 and almost two-thirds more than five years ago.

Partnership projects scooped two top awards at the National Community Rail Awards, which also saw Mr Burningham being given a Special Recognition Award.

Mr Burningham said: "I am very touched and humbled to receive the MBE and I would like to say a very big 'thank you'.

"This is a massive honour for the Partnership as a whole and caps what has been an excellent year with now the best ever train service on the branch lines and a big increase in passenger numbers.

"None of this would have been possible without the stalwart support of the Partners and especially the three principal local authorities, Cornwall Council, Devon County Council and Plymouth City Council.

"These three are among the most proactive councils in the Country for working to make the very most of their rail network, not just through their support of the Partnership but also the many schemes they have worked up directly with the rail industry. This year has been a bumper year here too with a highlight being the best ever service on the Tarka Line, made possible only through financial support from the County Council.

"I would also like to say a big 'thank you' to First Great Western. This year's improved timetables are in very large part down to them and they have consistently been extremely supportive of the Partnership."

More information about the Partnership can be found at its website http://www.greatscenicrailways.com">www.greatscenicrailways.com

• Other local awards included an MBE for long-serving Exeter Scout leader Bob Ball of Exeter; An MBE for Melanie McLoughlin of Exeter, for her services to the Devon Community Foundation; An MBE for Gwyneth Dickinson, a former nurse from Okehampton, was honoured with an MBE for her work as a trustee, chairman and now president of the Macular Disease Society.

alan-quick@crediton

couriernewspaper.co.uk