 The Under-Secretary of State for Transport reiterated the importance of the line to the economy of South Devon and Cornwall, and confirmed that even if there were to be plans for the building of an alternative inland route in the future, "in our view, it would not be a substitute in any shape or form for the main line along the coast".This is despite the acknowledgement of an inevitable increase in maintenance costs due to rising sea levels.In 2018 Network Rail put forward a proposal to extend the sea wall farther into the English Channel at Teignmouth, with the wall's new edge passing through Sprey Point.