Reopening Cullompton and Wellington stations (merged topic)

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From Somerset Live

Somerset's newest railway station will be "funded to delivery" after the government announced it was scrapping HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)). Prime minister Rishi Sunak announced at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Wednesday (October 4) that the hugely over-budget rail project would not be continued beyond Birmingham, freeing up more than £36bn for other transport projects.

While the majority of this funding will be reallocated to schemes across the north and the Midlands, £6.5bn has been set aside for the rest of UK^▸ (United Kingdom), including numerous new or existing projects in the south west. As part of the prime minister's announcement, the Department for Transport (DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)) has confirmed that Wellington railway station will go ahead, with a view to trains running to and from the town by September 2025.

[snip]

Rail minister Huw Merriman MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) confirmed the project's success in a letter seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, published shortly after the speech at the Tory party conference. He said: "Further to today's announcement, I am delighted to be able to confirm that the project will be funded to delivery, subject to future updates to the project business case.

[johnneyw]

Link below for an article in Somerset Live that reopening Wellington (Somerset) Station has taken a big step forward, although someone forgot to proof read the headline.... somewhat ironic given the subject matter.

https://www-somersetlive-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/full-stream-ahead-new-somerset-9260469.amp?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQGsAEggAID#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17147339394442&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.somersetlive.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fsomerset-news%2Ffull-stream-ahead-new-somerset-9260469

[IndustryInsider]

An unusually detailed and well constructed article for a local rag these days.

[TonyK]

An unusually detailed and well constructed article for a local rag these days.

Apart from the "Full stream ahead" headline. Blame the sub-ed for that - the reporter must have this subject close to his heart.

[JayMac]

Pretty sure the reporters do their own subbing for online articles these days.

[TonyK]

Pretty sure the reporters do their own subbing for online articles these days.

Then I blame his phone/computer, with the Autocorrupt left active.

[broadgage]

What about bats an newts ?

And with todays emphasis on providing step free access, why does the drawing show several steps up from the adjacent roadway to the platform ?

[JayMac]

And with todays emphasis on providing step free access, why does the drawing show several steps up from the adjacent roadway to the platform ?

Err. Because its an artists impression and not a building plan. Which may also have been cropped. Bottom left corner could very well be the start of a ramped entrance.

Network Rail are pretty used to building step-free access these days. I don't think they'd be stupid enough to install lifts on the platforms and then only have a stepped entrance to the station.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

New rail station will have 'very basic facilities'


David Northey said the community will need to find ways to help afford "various elements"

A retired Network Rail planner has said a new train station will be without a ticket office or waiting room, due to lack of funding.

The new Wellington railway station, near Taunton in Somerset, is expected to open in June 2026,

David Northey, a retired strategic planner with Network Rail, said the community will have to deliver extras such as a waiting room or café as the £15m fund provided by the Department for Transport (DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)) only covers “very basic facilities”.

Network Rail's application for the station is expected to be submitted to Somerset Council by the end of the summer, with a view to a decision being taken by its planning committee before Christmas.


Artist impression of the new Wellington railway station served solely by Great Western Railway (GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)) services

There will be hourly trains running through the new station in both directions between Cardiff Central and Exeter St David's.

CrossCountry indicated earlier this year, that its trains would not call at the new station.

Somerset Council approved plans in early-May for 200 homes on Nynehead Road in Wellington, which will deliver the access road to the new Wellington railway station site.

As part of the Nynehead Road planning permission, Cherwyn Developments will provide up to £305,000 to create a 'station square' area of public open space near the southern platform, which could include a bus interchange and cycle storage.


Revised plans for 200 homes, commercial space and access to new Wellington railway station on Nynehead Road in Wellington

Network Rail's David Northey said: "The basics of the station will be there - the platform, the footbridge, the lighting, the fencing, the seats and basic shelters. That's what the DfT are paying for, that basic infrastructure."

Describing it as an unstaffed station with a ticket machine on the platform and bus-type shelters, Mr Northey said it will be exactly like Cranbrook and Marsh Barton, stating that it's "down to the community if they want something more."

[TonyK]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

New rail station will have 'very basic facilities'

Network Rail's David Northey said: "The basics of the station will be there - the platform, the footbridge, the lighting, the fencing, the seats and basic shelters. That's what the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) are paying for, that basic infrastructure."

Describing it as an unstaffed station with a ticket machine on the platform and bus-type shelters, Mr Northey said it will be exactly like Cranbrook and Marsh Barton, stating that it's "down to the community if they want something more."

While it would be nice to have a ticket office, branch of WH Smith, buffet selling overpriced coffee and pasties, a range of shopping outlets, BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) station, piped music and so on, I think that could all cost a lot and get in the way of actually having a station with trains stopping. DfT won't pay for anything above that, and I haven't heard of any entrepreneur wanting to put up the money for extras.

[froome]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

New rail station will have 'very basic facilities'

Network Rail's David Northey said: "The basics of the station will be there - the platform, the footbridge, the lighting, the fencing, the seats and basic shelters. That's what the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) are paying for, that basic infrastructure."

Describing it as an unstaffed station with a ticket machine on the platform and bus-type shelters, Mr Northey said it will be exactly like Cranbrook and Marsh Barton, stating that it's "down to the community if they want something more."

While it would be nice to have a ticket office, branch of WH Smith, buffet selling overpriced coffee and pasties, a range of shopping outlets, BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) station, piped music and so on, I think that could all cost a lot and get in the way of actually having a station with trains stopping. DfT won't pay for anything above that, and I haven't heard of any entrepreneur wanting to put up the money for extras.

However, unlike Cranbrook this station will have inter-city trains passing through it at high speeds. So having just a narrow platform and a 'basic bus-type shelter', which is what we have at Oldfield Park, is not in my view satisfactory. In my experience here, the shelters offer minimal shelter and quickly fill up with people and outside of them you then have to stand no more than one yard away from the edge of the platform, which is extremely unpleasant and can be dangerous if you need to get past someone when a train is approaching.

Also I assume from the picture that this station will have lifts to enable disabled access. I would certainly hope so, but not having any staff on site if a lift breaks down is also a worry. And as an older person, I also don't consider the provision of toilet facilities at stations as an 'added luxury' but as a necessity, especially when you find yourself having to wait endless amounts of time for trains that just say on the screens they are 'delayed'..

[Mark A]

The station site quite close to a little-known listed bridge (the context of which suffers as the approach has been used as a tip) and also a very distinctive section of the Grand Western Canal, whose remains have somehow survived. Also, no teenager who encounters the minor road approach to Nynehead village from the east will be unchanged by the experience.

Mark


https://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/40949

[JayMac]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) wants clarity over plans for station reopening

The MP for Taunton and Wellington has written to the Department for Transport (DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)) asking for clarity on the planned reopening of a station.

Last week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves reassured Gideon Amos in the House of Commons that projects where work had already started, such as Wellington Station, "would go ahead".

But Mr Amos said he had since received a letter from Rail Minister Peter Hendy offering only a vague commitment to the Wellington project, as part of a review of all government-funded schemes.

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said she will work quickly to make recommendations about current and future schemes.


The first trains had been expected to call at the new station by June 2026

On 29 July, Ms Reeves announced that the Restoring Your Railway fund would be scrapped as part of plans to tackle a projected £22bn overspend the Labour government said it had inherited from the Conservatives.

The £500m fund, which was launched under Boris Johnson in 2020, intended to develop and fund proposals to reopen stations, like Wellington, which lost direct rail services under the Beeching cuts of the mid-1960s.

Mr Amos has demanded an urgent update on Wellington Station.

“Together, Somerset and Devon have put up over £6m of funding. To delay now would be totally the wrong decision," he said.

“I’m going to keep pushing as hard as possible for our station until the Chancellor’s own commitment is honoured and the station gets built”.


Gideon Amos said he will keep pushing for the station to be built as planned

The DfT declined to directly respond to Mr Amos' claims and referred the BBC to a previous ministerial statement made by the Transport Secretary.

She said: "The previous administration has left a £22bn public spending gap this year alone – £2.9bn of which is unfunded transport commitments.

"Communities up and down the country have been given hope for new transport infrastructure, with no plans or funds to deliver them."

Ms Haigh has commissioned an internal review of the DfT’s capital spend portfolio.

[TonyK]

The station site quite close to a little-known listed bridge (the context of which suffers as the approach has been used as a tip) and also a very distinctive section of the Grand Western Canal, whose remains have somehow survived. Also, no teenager who encounters the minor road approach to Nynehead village from the east will be unchanged by the experience.

Mark


https://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/40949

The Grand Western Canal is a mere 5 minute stroll from my front door, although not that bit of it, of which I was unaware. My wife has walked the whole length of the navigable part, which ends at Lowdwells Loch, about 4½ miles from the proposed station site. The Canal is a country park, and the jewel in Mid-Devon's slightly tarnished crown. It's a shame that the bit at the end has suffered so, when it is so close to meeting the River Tone.