Five years late and costing more than double the original estimate, it finally looks as if Marsh Barton will get a commuter railway station next year.
The area is Exeter’s largest trading estate, and one of the biggest employment sites in the region, with around 6,000 existing jobs planned to increase to 8,000.
Roads in the area are always congested and it’s hoped moving workers from their cars onto the train will relieve congestion in the city centre and roads linking the estate to the south and west.
The station just south of Clapperbrook Lane is right next to Exeter's Incinerator. It will be served in the main by stopping trains running between Exmouth and Paignton (see picture above). The platforms will be long enough to cope with six car trains and will have a footbridge and ramps.
Plans are expected to be submitted in a few weeks after ecological surveys and environmental impact assessment were completed. It’s hoped the station will open at the end of 2021.
In August last year it was reported that match funding of £8.4million for the station has been found, but unless the station is delivered by March 2021, the Growth Deal funding of £4.37m will be lost.