COMMUNITY-MINDED councillor Marcus Barr believes that possible plans for Wellington to have its own railway station once again are on track.

Cllr Barr represented Wellington Town Council at a meeting of the Devon and Somerset Metro Group which is looking at improving railway links in the region.

And Cllr Barr, speaking at the latest town council meeting, said he was very encouraged by what he heard.

“I think there is a 70 per cent chance that we will get our train station in Wellington,” he said. “Things are positive and looking really good.”

Plans are in the pipeline for new stations at Cullompton and Wellington – with each costing £15 million to implement.

But Cllr Barr said the next stage would be for Somerset West and Taunton Council to find £1.5 million to allow the Wellington project to continue further down the line to the desk of the Department for Transport.

It has been suggested that if the railway station was opened by 2025 there would be 500 journeys a day to/from Wellington with 70.7 per cent of people arriving from Taunton and 53.9 per cent going to Taunton from Wellington.

Various options for the planned station at Wellington have been looked at with the preferred site earmarked to the west of the original station which closed in October 1964 – although planning permission has yet to be obtained.

David Northey, senior strategy executive for Network Rail, confirmed it was happy with the work carried out so far, while Matthew Barnes from Great Western Railway has said there would be ‘some challenges’ but they were ‘not insurmountable’ and was confident the project could proceed.

Although there is a positive vibe coming from the Devon and Somerset Metro Group – which is supported by Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow – there will undoubtedly be plenty of scepticism about the project, even more so when costings have been placed at £15 million for each planned new station and with Somerset West and Taunton Council being asked to find £1.5 million of investment to help the Wellington station plan go forward when money is already tight.

Cllr Andrew Govier, speaking at the latest Wellington Town Council meeting, said: “I’m not sure where the chief executive of SWT is going to find £1.5 million. I read the Metro Group report and was left full of optimism and pessimism.”

The original Wellington Railway Station was opened in May 1843 but closed as part of the Beeching Report in the 1960s. There are currently 22 disused railway stations along the 75 miles of track between Bristol Temple Meads and Exeter St Davids.