New rail station will have 'very basic facilities'
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) 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.
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.
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."
