RAIL stations at Wellington and Cullompton are set to RE-OPEN after funding was allocated for the schemes.

On Wednesday (June 11), Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the Government’s Spending Review, which sets where cash will be spent in the coming years.

She failed to mention the Wellington and Cullompton stations projects – which would see rail service the areas for the first time in decades – sparking fear among campaigners and MPs the schemes would not go ahead.

However, it has since been confirmed the projects are funded as part of the review.

The move was confirmed after MP Gideon Amos (Lib Dem, Taunton & Wellington) spoke with Treasury officials to clarify the situation and was told the Spending Review “also provides funding to support the reopening of stations at Wellington and Cullompton”.

‘Further details will be set out shortly’, Mr Amos said he was told.

It comes after a years-long campaign to re-open the stations, also backed by former Taunton Deane MP, Rebecca Pow, and her predecessor, Jeremy Browne, who first vaunted the project.

Mr Amos, alongside fellow MP Richard Foord (Lib Dem, Honiton & Sidmouth), recently welcomed a bus load of station backers to Parliament, where they met with senior transport officials to press the case for the projects.

After hearing of the decision, Mr Amos said: “I’m absolutely delighted. It’s brilliant that all the hard work and campaigning by local residents, standing side by side with Richard and me, has finally paid off.

READ MORE: Campaigners meet rail minister in push for Wellington station plan

“For the cost of around £42 million, £180 million of economic growth will now come to our region.

“There is no other rail project in the south west that is ready to go and could be built and completed in the next two years, as the project is so far advanced.

“In fact, had it not been for the review in July last year, the spades would now be in the ground and the platforms under construction, because the contract was about to be let and the detailed design was almost finished.

“To give the project the go-ahead was a no-brainer, but it’s been a long battle – first begun in Parliament by my Lib Dem predecessor as MP, Jeremy Browne.

“It’s great news for Wellington, Cullompton and the South West as a whole.”

Wellington rail campaigners with Lord Hendy and MPs Gideon Amos and Richard Foord

The scheme was thrown into doubt after the government scrapped the Restoring Your Railway programme last summer – but has now been resurrected.

Mr Foord, whose constituency includes the Cullompton station site, added: “It has been a long campaign over many years, with hundreds of people determined to secure this historic outcome.

“Working alongside my Liberal Democrat colleague, Gideon Amos MP, we have raised this issue at the highest levels of government, making a strong case to the Chancellor, the Transport Secretary and the Rail Minister.”

He added: “I would like to congratulate the many members of the community who have been pressing for this outcome. They should enjoy the fruits of their hard work today.”

Mr Amos pressed the case for funding the stations in Parliament again last week and Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, in response recognised the Taunton and Wellington MP’s campaigning and thanked him for it.

Mr Amos also quizzed the Chancellor during Spending Review questions yesterday afternoon before later receiving confirmation that the stations would be re-opened.

However, there was no news for similar station projects, including at Somerton & Langport, which residents and MPs have backed in recent years.

Mayor of Wellington, Cllr Janet Lloyd, welcomed the news.

“I was absolutely delighted to hear last night that Treasury officials had told Gideon Amos MP the Spending Review ‘provides funding to support the re-opening of stations at Wellington and Cullompton’,” she said.

“I am absolutely over the moon to hear this news as I am sure that the community of Wellington, Wellington Town Councillors and Gideon Amos MP are too.

“After so much work, local financial investment and lobbying efforts over several years, we now know that the railway station will be built.

“Having a station for the town will bring economic benefits for the town and open up educational opportunities for our young people who will be able to access a far wider range of post 16 education provision than they are currently able to, from Plymouth through to Bristol.

“Having a railway station in Wellington will also help meet the Government’s objective of investing in Britain’s renewal.

“We look forward to seeing the detail of what has been agreed and to working with our partners in Somerset Council, Network Rail and GWR to deliver the station. Huge thanks to all of those who have worked hard to deliver this project and lobbied on our behalf in particular most recently Gideon Amos MP.”

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