Attempts to build a head of steam behind plans for a new Railway Station in Torquay have continued this week, with the plans raised at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Supporters state the station will improve access to Torbay Hospital, Edginswell Business Park, The Willows, and other nearby employment. It will also link the local communities in Shiphay and The Willows to the rail network. Services to and from the station will link towards Paignton, Newton Abbot, Exeter and Exmouth as part of the Riviera Line. A station in this area has been included within the local transport plan and Torbay Council’s Local Plan.
The proposal envisages a two-platform station with a footbridge link, a waiting shelter, lighting, CCTV, cycle parking with shelter and signage. Despite the council highlighting a £10M funding shortfall for the station in July, Network Rail filed its latest planning application for the project in August, with permission granted by Torbay Council’s Planning Committee on Monday (13th November).
Kevin has been a long-term supporter of this project and recently visited the site with Network Rail Engineers for a briefing on how costs had increased. Having raised it multiple times in Parliament since 2015, he took the chance of being picked to ask a question at Prime Minister’s Question Time to push Rishi Sunak on whether some of the funds released by scrapping future phases of HS2 could be used to meet it.
