PLANS to reconnect the West Somerset Railway (WSR) to the mainline rail network have been given a Government slap in the face.

An outline business case for the connection was put to the Government in 2024 showing the feasibility of restoring through trains from the Minehead to Bishops Lydeard heritage line to the mainline at Norton Fitzwarren.

The railway together with Somerset Council, which has backed the project, also asked for £137,000 to prepare a full business case, but it was refused last year by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander.

Now, the Department for Transport (DfT) has told West Somerset MP Rachel Gilmour, who has campaigned for the connection, there will not be any Government money allocated to the scheme.

The news comes three months after Mrs Gilmour brought DfT officials to visit West Somerset and meet the Bishops Lydeard to Taunton rail working group.

However, the DfT confirmed it did not have any objection to the council and WSR developing its full business case.

Mrs Gilmour said it meant a completed business case could not carry any promise that through train services would be approved.

She said: “I am grateful to the Department for Transport for visiting Somerset, and for confirming it has no objection to taking the business case forward.

“But, I do believe the decision counts for little unless Ministers find the money to back it.

“It is about time the Government listened to its rural communities and gave them the transport links they so badly need.

“The lack of rural links blocks jobs, blocks young people from getting to college, and holds back the rural economy.

“Growth is not conjured by debate.

“It is built by political will.

“I am asking Ministers to show that political will here in Somerset, and to put money behind a project that my constituents have waited far too long for.”