“To travel by train is to see nature and human beings, towns and churches, and rivers, in fact, to see life.” — Agatha Christie
But not if your town is without a station Agatha!
The people of Langport and Somerton, like so many across the UK, have bemoaned the withdrawal of their railway stations since the Beeching cuts of the 1960s.
Problems created by closure of Langport and Somerton Stations
The closure of the Langport and Somerton stations left a gap of more than 28 miles between Taunton and Castle Cary – the longest section without a station between London and Penzance.
Langport and Somerton lie at the heart of a large area of central Somerset, comprising significant clusters of population of over 50,000 in total, who are denied easy access to the rail network. The nearest stations at Taunton, Castle Cary, Bridgwater and Yeovil Junction are all 12-15 miles away. There is no direct bus to Castle Cary station, or to Taunton station (it’s a half mile walk from the bus station).
Reasons for re-opening a Station
Since the Beeching cuts, the population of the Langport and Somerton area has more than doubled – from less than 4,000 in 1961 to almost 9,000 today, with 11,000 looking possible very soon.
There is a rapid growth in rail use nationally – passenger numbers at Castle Cary, for example, have increased from 152,000 in 2002/3 to 251,000 in 2017/18. The complementary new station initiatives at Wellington and Cullompton have been approved and there is a real impetus from the Department for Transport to restore lost railway connections and stations. Indeed, the main rail line through Langport and Somerton remains in full service, but the trains do not stop at either of our two towns.
Work over the years.
A study was commissioned by Somerset County Council (SCC) in 2000 into the potential for introducing a local stopping service between Westbury and Taunton and reopening several stations including Langport and Somerton. Although the study was conducted 20 years ago, it concluded that there was sufficient spare track capacity on the existing line to accommodate an hourly stopping service, including at Langport and Somerton and developed a possible timetable for overlapping intercity and local services on the line.
In 2012, Langport Town Council held an informal consultation exercise to get feedback from residents on what improvements they would most like to see. The two top wishes were for reducing traffic and congestion in Bow Street and re-opening Langport Station. As a result, Langport Town Council and Transition Langport set up a working group, the Langport Transport Group, to examine what could be done.
Further local community support was demonstrated in 2015 by the ‘Back on Track’ campaign and a petition run by the Western Gazette newspaper.
Over the years, ministerial support has been expressed by several secretaries and ministers for transport, including Secretary for Transport Patrick McLoughlin in 2014 and Rail Minister Claire Perry who visited the station sites in 2016. The then Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, mentioned a station in his budget speech of 2015. “The government will run a further round of the New Stations Fund with up to £20 million in total available for projects, and consider proposals including any put forward for a new station between Castle Cary and Taunton”. * Hansard
In 2016, with the support of the County Council, the idea for a detailed Feasibility Study was commissioned and the Council’s consultancy (WSP) were tasked to look at the demand for a new station. As a result, SCC issued a brief to WSP to prepare a proposal for a commission to conduct a passenger demand assessment. A lump sum proposal was subsequently prepared by WSP in October 2016 to complete a demand assessment, taking account of known development proposals and abstraction from existing stations. However, due to lack of funds, the 2016 commission was not executed.
Then, in February 2019, the Department for Transport followed-through on the initial ‘new stations’ idea and launched the initiative of an ‘ideas fund’ to restore lost rail connections to communities. The Department for Transport invited MPs, local authorities and community groups to propose how they could use funding to reinstate axed local services and stations.
The Department for Transport launched a £500 million Restoring Your Railway Fund in January 2020, to deliver on the government’s manifesto commitment and start reopening lines and stations.
The Restoring Your Railway Fund was split into 3 categories to support projects at different phases of development (The Ideas Fund, The Advanced Fund and the New Stations Fund):
The Ideas Fund
The Ideas Fund was set up to provide development funding for early-stage ideas to explore options to restore lost rail connections to communities. The proposal for Langport and Somerton came under the Ideas Fund, because we had previously enjoyed a rail station in the town.
Our proposal for Langport and Somerton was prepared by the group and was one of 110 bids submitted in June 2020. The scheme had the support of the then MP, David Warburton, who provided the necessary sponsorship. There have been three rounds of the Ideas Fund, with 141 unique bids received, sponsored by 210 MPs. Only 38 bids have received funding to develop a strategic outline business case since 2020 and we are one of these.
Success – but a long way to go...
The Langport Transport Group (LTG) proposal was successful and an announcement on 26th November 2020 confirmed we were one of only 25 successful bidders in this round. An updated, full list of the successful projects is available on the DfT website (link here) for the Restoring Your Railway Fund.
The success of our bid meant that the Department for Transport would fund 75% of costs up to £50,000 to help fund and deliver a Strategic Outline Case (SOC) – the strategic business case and feasibility study. The new station has the support of the local parish and town councils, the then South Somerset District Council (SSDC), Somerset County Council (SCC) and Local Area Business Groups (LAPG). These groups generously donated funding of £15,000 which meant that the SOC was affordable when added to the Government funds.
The Langport Transport Group formed a Steering Group working with officials from the Department for Transport as well as local, district and county councils together with Network Rail and Great Western Railway in order to take the SOC/Feasibility Study project forward. Collaboration was the key feature of the Steering Group. There was a real feeling of all pulling together and getting us on the right tracks!
The LTG were partnered throughout the RYR initiative and SOC process by the County Council. The renowned civil engineering consultancy WSP was engaged again to undertake the analysis.
The SOC/feasibility study would be required to examine the implications of constructing a new station, to identify a suitable train service for the station and to assess the passenger demand and economic case should a new station and train service be provided.
The Strategic Outline Case was submitted by the Langport Transport Group to the Department for Transport in February 2022 and we are yet to hear the decision.
Langport Transport Group 