A PLANNED new railway station for Wellington which should have been opened in 2026 will now not be ready for possibly another three years.

And the cost has soared by one-third to £20 million.

The Labour Government scrapped funding for the station within days of being elected in July, 2024, when it was costed at £15 million.

But following 12 months of local campaigning to save the station, Chancellor Rachel Reeves reinstated it in July this year, without, however, confirming how much funding would be provided.

Now, Wellington MP Gideon Amos has met Network Rail officials to discuss the station plans and learned the scheme was expected to be £5 million more expensive and unlikely to be delivered for up to another three years.

Mr Amos said it had been a ‘very positive’ meeting held on the site on which the station will eventually be built behind the town’s Lidl supermarklet.

He said: “I am delighted that, working with my colleagues on Somerset and Wellington councils and with MPs across party, we succeeded in ensuring Wellington station will be one of the few around the country that will now be built.

“It is disappointing we had to lose so much time while the money was being found, but we are now in an exciting phase.

“Initial designs completed last year are now being reviewed and updated with work under way on the final plans.

“Once they are completed, hopefully by the spring, we will get a full schedule for the construction phase.

“The fact the site is on the main London-Penzance line presents challenges which mean construction activity will happen in phases, including at weekends.

“Contractors are still being re-engaged and therefore have not yet provided timings.

“However, Network Rail believe the opening of the station will be in two-and-a-half to three years’ time.”