PLANS to bring a railway stop to Wellington are on track.

The Devon and Somerset Metro Group met on Friday, February 21, to catch up on the plans.

The idea was floated in 2017 as the government announced intentions to reopen stations which were closed in the Beeching cuts in the 1960s, which includes the Wellington station that first opened in 1843.

Somerset West and Taunton Council has joined forces with Mid Devon District Council, MP for Tiverton and Honiton Neil Parish, and Taunton’s MP Rebecca Pow, to build two railway halts in Wellington and Cullumpton.

The meeting, which also included relevant stakeholders, concluded the group would soon be submitting an application to the Department for Transport’s ‘idea’s fund’.

The application will state the case for opening stations at Wellington and Cullompton and provides the opportunity to secure funding to develop a more detailed case.

This fund is part of the Government’s £500 million commitment to drive forward the reversal of the Beeching cuts and restore local railways and stations.

This funding will accelerate the delivery of restoration schemes currently under consideration and help develop new proposals.

Ms Pow and Mr Parish plan to meet rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris to update him on the latest plans.

Ms Pow said: “I’ve recently met with the secretary of state for transport to keep him informed and will be meeting the new rail minister this week to ensure that the proposed bid from the stakeholder group will be in the first round of assessments.

“I have also asked the chancellor for funding in the upcoming budget to be allocated to Somerset West and Taunton Council to support them in undertaking the next stage of this process.”

Following the October meeting of the group, they were tasked with raising £1.5million for each station to move the plans forward.

SWT CEO James Hassett said the council would be looking into how this could be funded.