Newcourt railway station costs £700k more than expected

Newcourt is the first station to open in Devon for 20 years

A new railway station costing £2.2m has opened to the public.

Newcourt in Devon was expected to cost £1.5m but "unforeseen additional work" resulted in the project costing more money, Devon County Council said.

The station - which is part of Exeter's expansion - was expected to open late in 2014, but the authority said the "setbacks" had caused delays.

It is the first station to open in the county for 20 years, since Digby and Sowton in 1995.

Funding for the station has come from the Department for Transport and the developers.

'Underestimated costs'

A spokesman for Devon County Council said: "Project costs rose due to unforeseen additional work, such as the replacement of signal box equipment and accessibility requirements for new stations.

"There have also been increased land costs, and rail industry costs which were underestimated."

The additional costs were approved by the cabinet in November 2014.

The council added: "This has been a very challenging delivery schedule. However, the station has still been delivered in an extremely quick timescale from conception to opening and Newcourt is the first of the four New Stations Fund projects to be delivered."

In 2013, Newcourt was one of four new stations to be announced around the UK - the others were in London, Newport and Derbyshire.

Newcourt, near to Exeter's Sandy Park rugby ground, is part of the city's expansion plan.

The station will be served half-hourly by a local service on the Exmouth line.