THE green light has been received to build a new train station in Wellington.

The project to build the station on the Great Western Railway line has been given Government approval.

Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow said it follows a seven-year campaign making the case for the station, which she says she has spearheaded.

She has been working with stakeholders, including GWR and Network Rail, representatives from local councils and the prospective developer since becoming Taunton Deane’s MP in 2015.

She has pushed the business case to Government in Westminster with regular meetings with Rail Minister Huw Merriman, the Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper and recently the Chancellor.

Following the announcement, she said: “I am absolutely thrilled with the news.

"This is what we have all been working on for many years and to receive this news is tremendous not just for the local people of Wellington, but it will bring much needed prosperity to the area through this extra connectivity.

"It will benefit businesses, their employees and especially the many people accessing educational establishments up and down the line, not to mention improving congestion on the roads and reducing pollution.

"I am delighted to be delivering a service that local residents want. Support was clearly demonstrated at the initial event I held in 2016 in Wellington to gauge interest in a station.

"Two hundred people attended that meeting and there was unanimous support for a station.

"Thousands of people signed my subsequent petition which I presented in Parliament."

She added: "I have been pleased to chair the Metro Rail Committee comprising of all the relevant stakeholders and to be the strong voice in Westminster putting our case at every opportunity.

"I must thank everyone involved in our team, including GWR, Network Rail, the councils and the LEP for the professional work done to reach this major milestone.

"This announcement today means that what started as a dream has now become a reality thanks in particular to a Government prioritising opening new rail stations in the right places."

Rail Minister Huw Merriman said: "Connecting Wellington to Somerset’s railway network is a major step forward for the area.

"Fast trains to London and Exeter open up great opportunities for the local area and I’m looking forward to seeing spades in the ground.

"I’d like to pay tribute to Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow for her tenacity and efforts to secure the new station, including engaging with local people in the town.

"Somerset’s railway network is expanding under this Conservative government, creating jobs and opportunities across the county.”

Gideon Amos, LibDem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate in the next General Election, said: "Getting a station for Wellington has been a cross party team effort.

"I very much hope the Conservative government will confirm its support for the station bid first raised in Parliament by the previous LibDem MP Jeremy Browne in 2014, and set in train by LibDem district councillors who began funding for the the project in 2019, alongside Wellington Town Council.

"The new station project I’m working on in London is due to open shortly and if I become MP I will use that experience to drive forward Wellington’s Station and in a way that ensures it includes direct trains to and from London, something I’m already working on making part of the project."