A rail campaign from the Plymouth Evening Herald has secured top level support from Transport Secretary Stephen Byers.

The paper is demanding a reliable three-hour journey time between Plymouth and London.

It has taken the plan to the heart of Government and won a major concession from the minister, who is to raise it with the Strategic Rail Authority.

His pledge came after South West Devon MP Gary Streeter held up the Herald’s front page, outlining the campaign, in front of Mr Byers in the House of Commons during the rail debate and described rail links between Plymouth and London as a disgrace.

Trains to Plymouth are forced to slow down south of Exeter because of hilly, winding tracks and it currently takes between three and five hours to travel from Plymouth to London by train.

The Herald launched its campaign after the SRA unveiled its £33.5bn 10-year plan to improve Britain’s railways – but ignored the South West.

Mr Streeter told the House: “One of the many defects in the Government’s ten-year rail plan is that has little to say about journey times to the far South West.

“Will the Secretary of State agree to cut journey times to three hours?”

“Too many potential investors in our region have put their money elsewhere because they thought that the South West was too far from where the action is.”

Mr Byers was also given a copy of the Evening Herald when he met with campaigners from the Better Rail Advisory Group (BRAG).

Speaking outside Westminster after his meeting with Mr Byers, BRAG co-founder David Da Costa said the transport secretary was ‘well briefed’ on the Herald’s campaign and had reacted positively.

Mr Da Costa said: “He said that he would take it up with the SRA and ensure that the issue of journey times is taken up with them.”