WELLINGTON MP Gideon Amos met with the minister for rail, Lord Hendy, at his office to press the case for a new train station in Wellington.

He was joined by fellow Lib Dem MP Richard Foord (Honiton and Sidmouth) - who is also pushing for rail services to be restored in Cullompton - and both believe new stations will be a catalyst for growth.

In a joint statement after the meeting on Thursday (September 19), the two MPs said: “We presented a detailed and evidenced case for the project, based on the jobs, housing and growth which would come to the area as a result.

“In response, the Minister listened carefully and was encouraged with the progress made to date and with the initiative taken by the local councils who contributed all the initial funding to get the project off the ground in the first place.

“The Minister promised he would progress the current review of new station and railway projects urgently, and we will continue to push at the highest levels for the reopening of Wellington and Cullompton at every opportunity we get.”

Lord Hendy, formerly chairman of Network Rail, told the meeting that the review of projects had been launched because the previous Conservative administration promised to reopen railways which had created a £2.9billion projected overspend in the Department for Transport alone in the current financial year.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves assured Mr Amos in Parliament in July that the project “will go ahead”.

But announcing a review the next day, Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh said: “Communities up and down the country have been given hope for new transport infrastructure, with no plans or funds to deliver them.

“I am determined that we build the transport infrastructure to drive economic growth and opportunity in every part of the country and to deliver value for money for taxpayers.

“That ambition requires a fundamental reset to how we approach capital projects – with public trust, industry confidence and government integrity at its heart.”

Following the meeting, Mr Amos, MP for Taunton and Wellington, added: “I’m determined we see the Wellington station project, first proposed in the House of Commons by my Lib Dem predecessor Jeremy Browne, successfully completed.

“Richard and I will now be working with our respective councils to maximise support for the project and the Minster has agreed to hear further representations from us on this before the review is complete.”

Wellington’s train station plans were being developed in tandem with a project in Cullompton, with both schemes due to go ahead at the same time.

The Chancellor had announced to Parliament in August she was scrapping the former Government’s £85 million ‘Restoring Your Railways’ programme as she tried to close an alleged £22 billion public spending gap.

Prior to Mr Amos’ meeting with Lord Hendy, he wrote to him and said the two-station project had an excellent ‘cost benefit ratio’ which resulted in a strong business case.

He said: “Failure to deliver it would put thousands of new homes at risk.”