Wellington: CrossCountry trains will not stop at new station

Wellington's new railway station is set to open in September 2025

A train operator has confirmed that its services will not call at a new railway station when it opens next year.

Wellington will not be served by CrossCountry trains, meaning only trains operated by Great Western Railway (GWR) will stop at the new station.

The town lost its railway station in 1964 under the Beeching cuts.

The new one is set to open by September 2025, pending final approval from the Department for Transport (DfT).

The government announced last year a new station for Wellington would be paid for by the scrapping of HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester.

An existing access road will be extended to reach the new railway station

Somerset Council has been working with the DfT and Network Rail to restore rail services to Wellington, saying it would help to regenerate the town.

CrossCountry, which operates services along the Bristol to Exeter mainline, which includes Wellington, announced on Monday it would be rolling out new trains with additional seats on its long-distance routes by May 2025, in a bid to improve customer experience.

But the operator has confirmed that none of these new trains will call at Wellington, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

CrossCountry's long-distance service from Penzance to Aberdeen, via Birmingham and Manchester, currently calls at two Somerset stations - Taunton and Weston-super-Mare.

A spokesman said: "CrossCountry currently have no plans to serve either Bridgwater or the new Wellington railway stations in Somerset."

An access road to the new station will be created as part of a development of up to 220 homes, with the existing access route from Nynehead Road to the Lidl supermarket being extended up to the railway line and a new car park put in place.