GLASTONBURY and Somerton MP Sarah Dyke has called for Somerton and Langport Rail Station to be ‘protected’ following the Chancellor’s statement to the House of Commons on the poor financial situation facing the country.

In a statement, Rachel Reeves said that a number of infrastructure projects faced the prospect of being “cut to balance the books”.

She has blamed the Conservatives for years of “economic mismanagement” as the reason for a lack of future project funding.

Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Dyke said this should not include Somerton and Langport Rail Station, saying her constituents “can’t wait any longer”.

She said: “We must be clear. The Conservative Party’s economic vandalism decimated the public finances, left our services in tatters, and stretched household budgets to breaking point.

“The Chancellor is right to be taking steps to rebuild our economy after years of unprecedented irresponsibility by the conservatives.

“That cannot come at the cost of vital projects like providing a rail station in the Somerton and Langport area. The stretch of rail between Taunton and Castle Cary is the longest between London and Cornwall without a rail station.

“My constituents cannot wait any longer for this desperately needed investment in our area after years of decline under the Conservatives.”

Somerton station originally opened to the public on July 2, 1906. The station had two signal boxes and a goods shed, however none of these are still standing.

The station stopped handling passenger services in 1962 but continued to serve freight traffic such as commercial goods, commodities, and merchandise until 1964.

Despite all the stations between Castle Cary and Taunton being closed, the line remained open for trains from London Paddington station to stations such as Plymouth and Penzance.

In January 2020, the government announced a £500m ‘restoring your railway fund', asking MPs, local councils, and community groups to put forward proposals for reinstating axed local services and restoring closed stations.

The Langport Transport Group submitted a bid as part of the ‘ideal fund’ element of this fund and was granted £50,000 to develop and submit the SOC.

The Prime Minister at the time, Rishi Sunak, said: “Conservatives in the south west are rightly championing the re-opening of local stations.”