Top railway planners have asked local rail travellers for full details of their idea for a second Witham railway station.

The Witham and Braintree Rail Users Association call for a new £ 1.5m Witham North station was revealed in the Essex Chronicle recently.

Now delighted chairman David Bigg said the Strategic Rail Authority was very interested when he and other members of the association put the idea forward at a meeting last week.

"It's a definite runner, " he said. "We did not expect them to show such interest, but they obviously share our view that it could be the answer to Witham's commuter problems, especially the parking aspect.

"They have asked us to prepare detailed plans of the building we would need and suggestion of where it should be sited. They showed real interest. It does appear to make economic sense.

"We got on well as fellow professionals and they are taking the idea very seriously."

The Association put forward the suggestion for a station near the Cherry tree pub off the Cressing Road after estimating that the numbers of people commuting from Witham would rise from 9,000 to 13,000 in the next 10 years.

It was sparked by the introduction of new parking restrictions designed to stop commuters parking on residential roads near the existing station.

Paul Latham spokesman for the Strategic Rail Authority said: "We have agreed to take a look at plans for a new station at Witham, but we have not said yes or no at this stage."

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