Plans to deliver a new railway station to serve the growing towns of Somerton and Langport were dealt a blow shortly after last year's general election when chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves MP cancelled the restoring your railway fund in late-July 2024.
Somerset Council subsequently held a consultation on its new local transport plan, which included a range of commitments and aspirations with regards to improving bus services, rail services and walking and cycling provision across the county.
Councillor Henry Hobhouse, who represents Castle Cary and the neighbouring villages, has now called on the council to redouble efforts to build a new station to serve Langport and Somerton, pointing to rising demand at his own local station.
Councillor Henry Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat, Castle Cary)
The council has said it will be putting together further plans to make the case for a new station in this area, as well as improving access to and integration with the existing network.
Mr Hobhouse made his request at a meeting of the council's climate and place scrutiny committee in Taunton on Wednesday morning (November 19).
He said: "I am very lucky in that we seem to have chosen one of our new transport hubs to be at Castle Cary railway station.
"The car park has doubled in size, the number of people going through the station has gone up significantly.
"It seems to me that we need to progress the new Langport station, or whatever you're going to call it, between Taunton and Castle Cary - that's a 30-mile stretch without any rail infrastructure."
Langport and Somerton were both originally served by trains on the Taunton to Castle Cary line, but their stations were closed in the mid-1960s during the infamous Beeching cuts.
Proposed sites for new stations to serve Langport and Somerton (Image: Langport Transport Group)
Funding for a feasibility study into a new station to serve both communities was agreed in May 2021, with South Somerset District Council and local parish and town councils providing money on top of a £50,000 grant from central government.
This study - known as a strategic outline business case (SOBC) - was put together by the Langport Transport Group and was submitted to the Department for Transport (DfT) in February 2022.
What followed was two-and-a-half years of silence from the then-Conservative government (across three different prime ministers) before the incoming Labour government cancelled the restoring your railway fund.
The proposed new Langport railway station site, seen from the A372 Wincanton Road in June 2024 (Image: Daniel Mumby)
Matthew Prince, the council's transport policy officer, said the council would be putting together an integrated connectivity plan (on top of the local transport plan) which would include steps to encourage more people to use the existing railway stations, as well as pushing the government to fund additional ones.
He said: "That plan is going to be about how we get people onto different types of transport, giving more choice to people - and part of that comes with having more stations.
"We've got, woefully, the least number of stations in the country in Somerset - I think we've got seven, eight if you include the new station in Wellington.
Matthew Prince, the council's transport policy officer at the climate and place scrutiny committee (Image: Somerset Council)
"It is not the easiest thing in the world to move the beast that is Network Rail into delivering more stations - but it is on our horizon.
"The plan will look at what infrastructure we need in 25 to 30 years, so we can put that case to the government."
The local transport plan will be discussed in further detail by the council's planning and transport policy executive sub-committee on December 10, before coming before the full council for final ratification on December 17.
David Northey from the Langport Transport Group said that productive conversations had been taking place with the council on how to take the project forward.
David Northey outside the community room at Bridgwater railway station (Image: Daniel Mumby)
Posting on social media on Wednesday (November 19), he said: "We had a meeting with the council last week to share a presentation from our conference in September which got people thinking.
"It was well received by the council and many questions were asked of our members and consultant Ian Baxter, who shared options on funding, services and a wider 'Network Somerset' concept, similar to the neighbouring 'Devon Metro' [which includes the new Wellington and Cullompton stations].
"The Network Somerset concept would use the existing rail network to the benefit of the county by connecting towns like Frome, Yeovil, Taunton and Bridgwater, rather than a collection of difficult connections.
"This would open up the potential for a new station for Somerton and Langport, and better use of existing rolling stock."