Council chiefs have swung into action in an attempt to get the troubled Epping-Ongar railway back on track.

Following a meeting with local MPs Eric Pickles , Eleanor Laing, and Bill Rammell, Epping Forest District Council's chief executive John Burgess announced he is to seek a meeting with representatives of Epping Ongar Railway Ltd.

The move came as London Underground informed the Secretary of State for Transport that EOR's October 1 deadline for a restored commuter service is now unlikely to be met.

A council spokesman said it supported the reintroduction of a commuter service on the Epping-Ongar line, having campaigned for many years against the line's closure.

"The council's priority has always been to see a commuter service that enables Ongar people to travel to London to work," said the spokesman.

"We are very disappointed that a commuter service is not now likely to start this year, but we will continue to work with everybody we can to achieve that aim in the long term."

The spokesman said the outcome of a meeting with EOR would determine whether a further meeting with government transport ministers would be sought.

The council will also be writing to London Underground manager David Smith in an effort to address problems surrounding the line's proposed interchange with the Underground at Epping.

Plans to establish a summer tourist service were shelved by EOR chairman Bill Camplisson after members of the Ongar Railway Preservation Society protested to the rail regulator.

Letters received by ORPS members this week state that in the event of the October deadline not being met by EOR, London Underground could serve a 'final notice' requiring the line to be offered for sale.

Possible purchasers of the line include London Underground, Essex County Council and EFDC itself.

EOR acquired the line from London Underground in September 1998 with a bid of £339,500.

But the letters - sent out by DETR staff in response to ORPS members' queries - leave open the possibility that the deadline could be yet revised and a new timetable drawn up for the reintroduction of a commuter service.

Such a move, amounting to a change in the terms of EOR's purchase agreement with London Underground, would require the consent of the Secretary of State for Transport.

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