The campaign to reopen Wantage and Grove Station has taken the “next vital step” as councillors agreed to fund a detailed plan into the proposals.

At a full meeting of Oxfordshire County Council last Tuesday (September 12), councillors voted unanimously to allocate funding for an outline business case for the new station.

This will enable a detailed development of the railway timetable and infrastructure changes needed to accommodate the proposed station.

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These were the factors cited by the Department for Transport in rejecting a bid to take the project forward in 2021.

The motion was proposed and seconded by Liberal Democrat county councillors for Wantage and Grove, Cllr Jane Hanna and Cllr Jenny Hannaby.

Cllr Hanna said: “There are 15 stations across Oxfordshire, but you look at the south-west of the county is a rail desert.

“We didn’t use to be that way. And we don’t have to be going forward…

“I’d like to thank all the local activists and rail campaigners who worked with us to put this motion together today…”

Cllr Hanna pointed to the recent expansion of Grove Business Park, which will create 2,000 new jobs this summer, as well as “strong local businesses” as reasons for why the station was needed.

She said: “The area is crying out for connection to the busy, critical, strategic rail corridor, and I’m afraid enhancing buses, going electric, active travel, just don’t cut it…

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“In the Vale, we have a 34 per cent population growth. In Wantage and Grove alone, we have 5,000 houses built, representing a 59 per cent increase in population, up to 2027, back to 2017.

“Let’s do it. Let’s look at reconnecting this vastly growing population…

“There’s a gaping gap of vital infrastructure and we really need to reach our local and regional ambitions.”

Among those backing the plans was council leader Liz Leffman.

She said: “If we open Grove and Wantage station, that is part of a corridor that leads from Oxford to Swindon to Bristol.

“That’s absolutely vital if we want to encourage train travel across the region.”

A Wantage and Grove station was initially opened by Great Western Railway in 1846 but has seen no trains since 1964.

If re-opened, the rail station was estimated in an independent opinion in 2018 to become the fifth busiest station in Oxfordshire, attracting at least one million users.

It was subsequently included in the Oxfordshire Rail Corridor Study, the County Council Local Transport and Connectivity Plan, and has safeguarded sites under the Vale of White Horse District Local Plan.

An estimated ‘high value for money’ of £2.48 for each £1 expended means the scheme has a strong economic case.