MP asks for assurance on funding of Cullompton railway station

Lib Dem Richard Foord is pursuing confirmation from the Department for Transport

Devon MP Richard Foord has asked for assurance that funding to reopen Cullompton railway station will still be available under the new government.

The scheme was announced by the Conservatives in the 2021 budget, with £5 million pledged for both Cullompton’s station and Wellington’s in Somerset.

But new chancellor Rachel Reeves’ announcement that infrastructure projects could be scrapped in a bid to fill what Labour calls a £22 billion hole, has prompted nervousness from MPs about whether schemes in their constituencies will survive.

Liberal Democrat Mr Foord, who won the new Honiton and Sidmouth seat in July’s election, said while the government’s cuts looked as it they would centre on much larger projects, he wants assurances that the Cullompton station would go ahead.

“Locally there is a bit of concern about cuts to the Restoring Your Railway funding, and my colleague Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat, Taunton and Wellington) asked Rachel Reeves in the chamber in the House of Commons earlier in the week about whether we would see cuts to projects to build these two stations,” he told Radio Exe’s Devoncast podcast.

“We are just getting some clarification from the government, as we were encouraged to hear what the chancellor said, notably that those projects that are already underway will continue, and Cullompton and Wellington are underway.”

Mr Foord said a formal stage of the process – known as an outline business case – had been approved and that the full business case was being developed by a board that brings together Network Rail, train company Great Western Railway, and local councils.

“We’ve had some good engagement with the Department for Transport, but we’re just waiting for clarification from the department that these projects will go ahead.

“At this stage, I’m keen to get in touch with the minister from the DfT to get certainty around the Cullompton station project, and even though we’ve heard nothing from the chancellor that the project is under threat, we also need to hear that from DfT.”

The railway could be a vitally important piece of infrastructure if the nearby Culm Garden Village development goes ahead, which proposed around 1,300 homes.

That scheme is also dependent on works to improve junction 28 of the M5  at Cullompton, which would also include a relief road to mitigate congestion.

Currently there is significant queuing to use the junction 28 at peak times on weekdays.

Frequently queues stretch along Station Road between High Street and Junction 28, which reduces the air quality in the town.

To resolve this, Devon County Council has been working with Mid Devon District Council and other agencies to find the best solution.

The preferred option is to construct a new second junction and bridge to the south of junction 28 with south facing slip-roads.

This new junction and relief road should reduce queues and delays at junction 28, reduce congestion and improve air quality throughout the town centre, the councils say.