Plans for new rail station back on track

A new planning application for a railway station at Marsh Barton will be submitted at the start of 2020, Devon County Council has announced.Changes to design standards led to rising costs and an unsuccessful bid to the Department for Transport’s New Stations Fund left a funding shortfall which delayed the project. As a result, Devon County Council has taken the opportunity to re-think the design of the access to the station.This has many benefits as the new access ramps will strengthen a failing embankment, deliver an improved access into the city’s cycle network avoiding Clapperbrook Lane, and would minimise risk of delay during construction as it could be delivered away from the live railway.Network Rail is co-operating on the revised scheme and GWR is offering assistance to align planned maintenance of the railway with the scheme programme to try and reduce the length of its construction.The new design has enabled the funding gap to be closed, with additional funds from developer contributions and the Local Transport Plan.A number of challenges remain to ensure that the scheme is delivered, and the County Council will now focus on elements such as securing planning permission for the revised scheme and gaining rail technical approvals.Devon is one of the leading authorities in the country for opening new rail stations, with stations opening at Cranbrook and Newcourt in Exeter in 2015.