Did you know that over 50,000 people live in Somerton, Langport and the surrounding villages — yet we currently have no direct rail access?
Our campaign to reopen a station for Somerton & Langport is about reconnecting our communities to jobs, education, healthcare and leisure opportunities across Somerset and beyond. A new station on the existing main line between Taunton and Castle Cary would:
• Provide direct access to Taunton, Bristol, Bath, Reading and London
• Reduce congestion on local roads
• Support sustainable travel and cut carbon emissions
• Boost the local economy and tourism
• Improve access to education and healthcare
• Reconnect rural communities to the national rail network
This is not about building a new railway — it’s about making better use of the line that already runs through our area every day.
With strong local support, previous funding secured for a business case, and growing recognition of the need for better public transport, momentum is building. But we need your help to keep pushing forward.
At the recent Somerset Council Executive meeting a question was asked by Phil Edge (Chair) about the next steps and received supportive feedback from the council for the station and Cllr Richard Wilkins also confirmed that it was high on the list of schemes by Peninsula Transport. He said that Somerset were awaiting feedback from the DfT and we will be following this up.
In the meantime we are reminded by a keynote speaker at our conference last year that you need three key ingredients and they are the following people : a politician, a transport specialist and a local council representative , and these then lead the way for the community.
It’s not what the railway or DfT can do for us, but what we can do for the industry and that is champion this scheme from the ground upwards.
At our committee meeting last night we agreed to approach the DfT for a response on their position on our station, as well as going back to Somerset to understand what support looks like and how we can move forward.
‘Plans to deliver a new railway station in rural Somerset remain “sat on a shelf” in Whitehall, Somerset Council has confirmed’.
Our very own Chair – Phil Edge – made his plea when the council’s executive committee met in Taunton on Wednesday 1st April. “Bearing all this in mind, and given Somerset Council’s stated priorities on connectivity and sustainable growth, why has the Somerton and Langport station re-opening, which is backed by a positive business case and strong local and parliamentary support, been omitted from the delivery plan? Will the executive now commit to formally including and supporting this project?”
Langport Transport Group’s Chair, Phil Edge, addresses the Somerset Council’s Executive Committee on 1st April 2026 (Image: David Northey)
Our local MP, Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrats) again raises the Somerton and Langport station project in the House of Commons.
“The Glastonbury and Somerton constituency contains the longest stretch of rail without a station anywhere in the country – leaving Langport and Somerton, in addition to Glastonbury and Street, entirely isolated from rail links. All but Street also lack integrated bus services to the nearest train station, meaning residents are cut off from transport into London and across the South West.
I will keep pushing the Government to recognise this appalling failure to serve Somerset’s rural communities, and the need to unlock their vast potential for growth by investing in rural railway access”.
You can see Sarah’s speech via her Facebook page. Link below:
A great photo of our very own David Northey (on the right) within another first class article from the Gazette’s reporter Daniel Mumby on 25th November 2925.
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.
Students from Huish 6th Form Academy showing their support for a new station for Somerton and Langport with officers from the Langport Transport Group, L to R Simon Taylor, David Northey and Phil Edge (permission was given by the college to use this photo)
The Langport Transport Group Host the Developing the Exeter to Reading Rail Corridor conference on 27th September 2025 at the GWR Hotel in Taunton
At the end of September the Langport Transport Group (LTG) held a conference to discuss the future of a station for Langport/Somerton. A group of local residents, LTG have been campaigning for over a decade to bring a station to either Langport or Somerton.
It seemed somehow appropriate that the conference was held at the Great Western Station just over the road from Taunton station, making the point of the importance of connectivity. And the fact that attendees from the Langport and Somerton area could only get to a hotel next to a station, via an infrequent bus service or private car, emphasised that point rather well.
After a warm welcome from our Secretary, Simon Taylor, we were pleased to show a pre-recorded ‘key affirmation’ via video from our MP Sarah Dyke. Sarah pledged her support once again for the campaign and emphasised the importance to our community of being better connected.
Phil Edge, the LTG Chair gave an overview of the Strategic Outline Business Case and the campaign story so far. Discussion soon settled on the vitality of good transport links for the young people in our communities. A focus on the Exeter to Reading rail corridor as a connected area for economic benefit brings a different perspective. Exploring multi-modal transport connections is also a vital area for improvement.
Brian Q Love from Connected Communities explained how by bringing communities together with business stakeholders with a common vision of tackling rural isolation and increasing opportunity can encourage economic benefit. A case study from a collaboration between the large civil engineer Amey created the Bath and Wiltshire Metro project. An inspirational presentation on how communities connected by the rail network can thrive.
Councillor Richard Wilkins, the Lead for Transport in Somerset and the Vice-Chair of Peninsula Transport focused on tackling rural isolation through integrated mixed-mode public transport. Richard explained how Somerset Council can drive this project by strategic transport planning and operational initiatives – the SLINKY bus service being a great example as well as the Integrated Somerton Transport Hub initiative.
Some of you may have had the impression (we certainly did) that the idea of a station for the Langport/Somerton area was effectively killed off when the Labour Government killed off the Restoring Your Railway fund in July last year. After all, part of that fund was dedicated to opening or reopening rail stations across Britain.
However the LTG conference started by explaining very forcefully that whilst the funding mechanism may have gone, that did not make the opening of news stations a thing of the past.
David Northey, a former Network Rail executive pointed out that despite the closure of the fund, stations for Wellington Collumpton and Portishead had been approved recently.
While the Restoring Your Railway fund was very much dead, every in-progress project to open or reopen a station remains very much alive. This is the view from Whitehall too. It is up to project leaders to look for pathways to make the case, find funding and ultimately receive government blessing.
The LTG conference showed the depth of support for the idea of a railway station in the area. Although unable to be there for personal reasons, Glastonbury & Somerton MP Sarah Dyke sent a message of support via video.
In her video message the MP reminded everyone that the Government had made growth and opportunity the central plank of policy. And without public transport, then both growth and opportunity would wither on the vine.
Representatives from Curry Rivel, Somerton and Langport councils as well as local Somerset Councillors were all in attendance. The Somerset Council Executive Member responsible for Transport, Richard Wilkins (who just happens to be the Somerset Councillor for Langport), gave a presentation to the conference.
David Northey suggested that access to education, especially to a 6th form college, depended on public transport. Without it, whether you live in Minehead or Langport, having a choice of further education colleges would be almost impossible. Given the lack of a station and the poverty of bus services, young students were already having their opportunities and life choices curtailed.
Simon Taylor from LTG followed this up, presenting quotes from pupils in the Okehampton area after their local station reopened in November 2021. All spoke warmly of the increased choice, improved access and what that meant in terms of education, job opportunities and social life. Another new station in the area is scheduled to open in 2026.
To that point the final presentation to the conference was from Ian Baxter a consultant and former Chiltern Trains director. Mr Baxter has been personally involved in the opening of a dozen new stations both for Chiltern and as a consultant.
He went through a number of different models that had been used to fund station openings that did not involve central Government funding.
A number of openings for instance had been achieved as a partnership between developers and local authorities. The idea being that once a new station opened, it formed a focal point for new housing.
A local authority might fund the station, invest in the surrounding land and then recoup the capital outlay from the uplift in land values that will inevitably happen as a result of being next to a new station.
Equally developers might joint-fund a station knowing that they could recoup the money both from land value uplift or from the development itself. Both models have been successful in getting new stations opened/reopened in recent years.
In short, Government funding is uncertain and subject to the whims of policy change. But getting a new station does not have to be.
There are other possibilities too. Although Somerset Council managed to miss out on the first round of mayoral authorities, the council will be having another go between now and March 2026 together with would-be mayoral partners Wiltshire, Dorset and Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole.
A mayoral authority for the area will have new powers and new funding streams to go with those powers. Including the ability to work on transport infrastructure including funding new stations.
There is still some way to go on this, but as and when a new mayoral authority is created, it will open up another line of inquiry for those campaigning to bring a station to Langport/Somerton.
The potential new station for the Langport Somerton area was costed at £15m as part of the feasibility study and that was with input from the DfT. These costs, along with other details within the feasibility study, will now be a couple of years out of date.
However the take-home message for residents of the Langport/Somerton area is this:
the station project is alive
there needs to be an updated feasibility study that is ready to go at a moment’s notice as and when funds become available
the project is commercially viable
there are non-traditional funding models to explore
If you are interested in the project, perhaps one of the 53,000 in the potential station catchment area and want to keep up to date with the station project, to can find out more from the Langport Transport Group here .
Regiments have their Colours, Trades Unions have their Banners, Nations have their Flags, so the Langport Transport Group has it’s very own rallying symbol – a proposed Somerton & Langport Station Sign!
The Langport Transport Group and their wonderful supporters gathered at the Angel Cafe in Langport on Thursday 15th May 2025 to unveil our new station sign. A wonderful evening discussing the campaign and meeting supporters. Thanks, especially, to Jayne for running the Bar.
On the 5th December 2024, Langport and Somerton’s MP, Sarah Dyke (LD), mentioned the Langport Transport Group (again) in the House of Commons. It is true to say, that the campaign is not going away! Thank you Sarah!
As part of a wider contribution in the House on Improving Public Transport, Sarah Dyke MP mentions the work of the Langport Transport Group:
‘I have spoken many times in this place about the reintroduction of a station in the Somerton and Langport area, and I thank the Langport Transport Group for its hard work and tenacity in trying to bring a railway station to the area after it lost its stations during the Beeching cuts of the 1960s. The Somerton and Langport area has the longest stretch of rail between London and Cornwall that is not served by a railway station. The Langport Transport Group prepared a proposal to the restoring your railway fund and won £50,000 to develop a strategic outline case alongside Somerset council, which they submitted in February 2022. Despite this huge effort, they have never heard back, even after I pressed both the former Prime Minister and the Transport Secretary in the last Parliament for an answer. Now that that scheme has been cancelled by the Chancellor, local residents feel that they are in limbo.
Having a railway station in the Somerton and Langport area makes so much sense. It would serve the 50,000 people who live nearby who currently are not served by the railway line that runs right through their community. Nearby stations such as Castle Cary, Taunton, Bridgwater and Yeovil Junction are all at least 12 to 15 miles away. There is no direct bus to Castle Cary or Taunton, where it is then a hike to the nearest station. That is hardly an incentive to travel, and it illustrates the lack of integrated public transport in Somerset—a topic I will speak on later.
A railway station in the area would do more than connect residents to the rail line. It could also boost the local economy, bringing in more visitors. We have seen nearby passenger numbers at Castle Cary—the official railway station for the Glastonbury festival—jump massively in recent years, from 152,000 in 2002-03 to 251,000 in 2017-18. I may have a slight bias, but there are so many reasons for people to stop and visit the area, if only there were a train station. For example, there is the River Parrett trail, a scenic 50-mile walk that is home to some of lowland England’s most beautiful and unchanged landscapes.
As I mentioned, the proposal was cast into doubt after the Government announced the cancellation of the restoring your railway fund in the summer. We are still waiting for an update on what will happen to the project. I would welcome the Minister’s comments regarding the Somerton and Langport railway.’
Langport Transport Group 