Plans for new railway station serving Torquay is back on track

A SHELVED scheme for a new railway station at Torquay which hit the buffers due to lack of cash could be back on track.

Torbay MP Kevin Foster has revealed he will support a fresh bid for funding for a new station at Edginswell near Torbay Hospital.

Torbay Council says it is reviewing the business case for the station which would be a “great benefit” to the area, known as Torquay Gateway, close to the Willows retail centre, business parks and new homes.

A planning application for a £9million new station between Newton Road and Riviera Way was approved by Torbay Council in November 2016.

The scheme was backed by the Local Enterprise Partnership but ran out of steam when a bid for funding from the Government’s New Stations Fund was turned down in 2017.

Now Mr Foster has revealed he will be backing a fresh bid by Torbay Council for cash from a new £20million allocation for the Government fund.

The MP said in his newsletter: “It would be great to see a bid succeed from our bay and I have already asked the Rail Minister for a meeting.

“Having raised many times the prospects of a new station in the

House of Commons it is great to finally be able to put in a bid.”

Applications will be assessed by a cross-industry panel by the end of August with the winners announced in the autumn.

The two-platform station would add an extra stop on the line between Newton Abbot and Paignton, with a pedestrian access from Newton Road and Riviera Way via steps, ramps and footbridge.