PLANS for a new railway station for Wellington appeared to have hit the buffers this week as the Government announced it would not fund the £15 million project.

The station, due to open in June, 2026, was also facing an end of August deadline for £800,000 to be found to complete the detailed design within budget.

The news comes just a week after new MP Gideon Amos trumpeted a ‘promise’ he had secured from Chancellor Rachel Reeves that the station would go ahead.

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.

But now, Rail Minister Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill has written to Mr Amos to say neither station would be funded.

Instead, Lord Hendy said the Department for Transport would ‘attempt to consider’ the two projects as part of the wider review of Government-backed transport initiatives.

The Chancellor had announced to Parliament 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.

However, Ms Reeves in giving a ‘guarantee to Mr Amos said individual projects would be reviewed and those such as in Wellington which had ‘started’ would be delivered.

Wellington Mayor Cllr Janet Lloyd this week slammed the ‘mixed messages’ coming from Ministers about the town’s station project.

Cllr Lloyd said she was calling for an urgent debate on the issue by town councillors when they hold a special meeting on August 27 to consider plans for rebuilding a public toilet block in Longforth Road.

She said: “This is absolute craziness. It would suggest the station has been sidelined and they are not going to look at it again.

“We are getting double-speak from Ministers in the new Government, which is extremely disappointing.”

Mr Amos, who has called for Lord Hendy to meet him urgently, said: “I am going to keep pushing as hard as possible for our station until the Chancellor’s own commitment is honoured and the station gets built.”

In a letter to Lord Hendy, Mr Amos 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.

“We recognise the strain on the Government’s finances caused by years of unfunded commitments by the last Government.

“Fortunately, this project has the backing of both Somerset and Mid Devon District Councils, which have, to date, contributed toward the £6.2 million spent on its development.”

Mr Amos said 75 per cent of the station’s detailed design had been completed and it now needed £800,000 before the end of the month to finish it.

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh told Parliament she was commissioning a review of her department’s capital spending portfolio - cash earmarked for large projects.

She said: “We will bring in external expertise and move quickly to make recommendations about current and future schemes.”