Calls for Wellington Rail station to be given the go-ahead
The £15m plan has been hanging in the balance since the Chancellor announced a transport project spending review last year
One of Somerset’s MPs has made a final push to argue for a new railway station ahead of the results of the government’s spending review.
Proposals for a new £15m railway station in Wellington have been hanging in the balance for nearly a year after chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves MP announced a review of major transport projects in late-July 2024.
The government will announce whether the station (and its sister project in Cullompton, over the border in Devon) will go ahead at the conclusion of its spending review on June 11.
Taunton and Wellington MP Gideon Amos has now made one final push to secure the station, calling on the chief secretary of the Treasury to recognise the significant value for money it provided and how much it would contribute to economic growth in the south west.
Mr Amos and his counterpart Richard Foord MP (Honiton and Sidmouth) have been passionately campaigning for the two stations for months, holding meetings with transport ministers, participating in Westminster Hall debates and organising a parliamentary delegation in April.
Mr Amos addressed the matter in the House of Commons on Wednesday (June 4), shortly after the chancellor announced more than £15bn for transport projects across the UK – an announcement which omitted any reassurance on the new stations.
He said: “The chief secretary of the Treasury will know that the benefits of the Cullompton and Wellington stations project would bring tens of thousands of people to the city, the metro region and the Cardiff-Bristol-Exeter corridor.
“Thanks to a cost-benefit ratio of almost 4:1, will he acknowledge the strength of the case for that project, as set out in the letter he received from his honourable friends the members for Weston-super-Mare (Dan Aldridge), for North Somerset (Sadik Al-Hassan) and for Exeter (Steve Race) – and from me and my honourable friend Richard Foord?”
Somerset Council has provided significant support for the station project, granting planning permission in May 2024 for a development of 200 homes on Nynehead Road which would provide access to the station site.
Separate plans for the detailed design of the spine road (including pedestrian and cycle links) and the new ‘station square’ which will welcome passengers were approved in March 2025.
West of England Developments (Taunton) Ltd. – which will be delivering the new homes and road – has also given assurance that the station site will be protected from future development in the event of the government refusing to give the green light.
Chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones (who represents the Bristol North West constituency) thanked Mr Amos for his continual campaigning and said that investing further in rail services was a big priority for the government.
He said: “I thank the honourable member for his campaigning and for welcoming today’s news of historic levels of investment into the west of England for transport.
“The best use of the money is to make sure that not only do we deliver infrastructure within our combined authorities, but that opportunities are unlocked for broader spending decisions on intercity transport, heavy rail, road investments, new housebuilding and industrial policy spending.
“The review of the Green Book has been looking at this and further details will be published next week.
“However, I am confident that we will be able to unlock opportunities for areas outside the combined authorities, and the investment announced today makes a stronger case for doing so.”
Mr Jones added that the government would publish its “infrastructure strategy” shortly after the spending review which would lay out how the government would address supply chain issues and other problems in delivering major transport projects.