I pledged to work to bring a rail station to Wellington when I was first elected to Parliament in 2015; and the prospect of a station is fast becoming a reality I am delighted to say. Working at Government level and with stakeholders as co-chair of the Somerset and Devon Rail group the project was one of 10 schemes fast tracked by the Department of Transport.
The Devon and Somerset Metro Rail Group are the local stakeholder group leading on plans to open a rail station in Wellington, that also runs alongside a similar hope of bringing a station to Cullompton.
The then Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced in May 2020 that the Metro Group’s bid was one of just ten projects nationally to be selected for the next phase of development. Officials from the Department of Transport have been working closely with the Rail group since 2020.
OCTOBER 2023
GREEN LIGHT FOR WELLINGTON RAIL STATION! Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow gets the go ahead for new train station.
Rebecca Pow, MP for Taunton Deane, has welcomed the government announcement that a new train station will be built in Wellington.
This follows more than a seven-year campaign, spear headed by Rebecca Pow MP to make the case for a station.
The project to build the station on the Great Western Railway Line is being backed by Government.
Rebecca Pow MP has been working with all involved stakeholders, including GWR and Network Rail, representatives from the local councils and the prospective developer since becoming Taunton Deane’s MP in 2015. She has been working hard to make the business case to Government in Westminster with regular meetings with Rail Minister Huw Merriman, the Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper and recently the Chancellor:
Following the announcement, Rebecca Pow, Taunton Deane MP, said:
“I am absolutely thrilled with the news! This is what we have all been working on for many years and to receive this news is tremendous not just for the local people of Wellington, but it will bring much needed prosperity to the area through this extra connectivity. It will benefit businesses, their employees and especially the many people accessing educational establishments up and down the line, not to mention improving congestion on the roads and reducing pollution.
I am delighted to be delivering a service that local residents want, support was clearly demonstrated at the initial event I held in 2016 in Wellington to gauge interest in a station. Two hundred people attended that meeting and there was unanimous support for a station. Thousands of people signed my subsequent petition which I presented in Parliament.
I have been pleased to chair the Metro Rail Committee comprising of all the relevant stakeholders and to be the strong voice in Westminster putting our case at every opportunity. I must thank everyone involved in our team, including GWR, Network Rail, the councils and the LEP for the professional work done to reach this major milestone. This announcement today means that what started as a dream has now become a reality thanks in particular to a Government prioritising opening new rail stations in the right places.'
Rail Minister Huw Merriman MP, added:
“Connecting Wellington to Somerset’s railway network is a major step forward for the area. Fast trains to London and Exeter open up great opportunities for the local area and I’m looking forward to seeing spades in the ground. I’d like to pay tribute to Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow for her tenacity and efforts to secure the new station, including engaging with local people in the town. Somerset’s railway network is expanding under this Conservative government, creating jobs and opportunities across the county.”
FEBRUARY 2023
Members of the Devon and Somerset Metro Rail Group met on the site of the proposed new Wellington rail station with chair of the group Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow.
Amongst those gathered were representatives from Wellington town council, Network Rail, Great Western Railway, the developers, and architects. Starting at where the proposed cycle walkway would enter the ground near the new Lidl development, the group walked to the site where the car park and platform is proposed. The site includes a mixed housing provision, commercial opportunities as well as the station and the developer is anticipating submitting the planning application within the next couple of months. This will be a very green development with integrated cycling and walking and local MP Rebecca Pow is working hard with others to ensure the cycling provision links in with the Wellington Cycle plan and their Wellington place strategy.
Local MP Rebecca Pow said:
“Getting everyone onsite to actually visualise the proposed station was a very exciting moment. Invaluable detailed work has been undertaken for many years now to get us to this stage, for which everyone involved must be commended. We’ve been successful in securing government funding at steps along the way to help get us to this stage. And now we are pushing for the full business case to be submitted to the Department for Transport sometime between June and the Autumn and I am pressing for this to be completed as soon as possible so that we are ready to take advantage of the Government backing we need for the final stage. I’ve informed the Secretary of State for Transport of our progress so far and will be giving him a further update following the onsite meeting as well as the meeting of the full committee jointly with Cullompton which followed.”
AUGUST 2022
Information has recently been sent out to local people in the Longforth Farm area of Wellington for their comments on plans for the Wellington Rail Station.
Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow met with the developer, Chris Winter, to view the proposed site and discuss the plans. The planning application for the wider development on the site adjacent to the Longforth Farm Estate is being prepared now in close liaison with Network Rail, with the aim being to submit it to the Planning Authority in the autumn.
Local MP Rebecca Pow MP said:
“I had an informative meeting and walk around the proposed site of the Wellington Rail Station with developer Chris Winter. I have championed this project and have been working constructively with all stakeholders and it is welcome news that the planning application may be submitted this autumn. I pledged to work to bring a rail station to Wellington when I was first elected to Parliament in 2015 and this is genuinely exciting progress. I am proud to be part of the team that is bringing this forward and I shall continue to play my role, in particular as the link between activity on the ground in the constituency and the Department of Transport in Westminster.”
MARCH 2022
The latest welcome allocation of £5m has just been received to develop the detailed business case which sets us on a pathway for a potential opening in 2025 which is tremendously exciting.
The station will bring multiple benefits including improved connectivity, business opportunities and crucially will decarbonise our transport network. My campaign for a cycleway linking Wellington and Taunton will also help people to reduce reliance on cars and encourage active and safe travel by bike to the proposed station.