Herefordshire Council has said it is “committed to doing all we can to progress the case” for the proposed reopening of Pontrilas railway station, following remarks by its cabinet member for transport apparently dismissing the project.

The council said in a statement that a rebuilt station on the Hereford-Abergavenny line “would significantly improve the public transport infrastructure for the long term, benefitting not only the rural areas of the Golden Valley but the wider county and the region”.

It claimed to be “already taking steps to bring together all the interested parties to the table”, and to be working with local MP Jesse Norman, who is a transport minister, and with local backers to lobby regional transport body Midlands Connect, the Department for Transport and Network Rail on the scheme.

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Mr Norman confirmed on his Facebook page: “There is every intention for the cabinet member and officers to meet with me and other supporters to discuss the project in the near future.

“Now we need to bring everyone together, clarify exactly what is being proposed, build on the work already done – and make it happen,” he said.

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Leader of the council’s Conservative administration Coun Jonathan Lester said: “Pontrilas offers the potential to improve our transport infrastructure significantly now and in the long term and we are keen to explore the project further.”

He said this will include pursuing the plan with neighbouring counties via the proposed Marches Forward Partnership, which the council’s cabinet formally backed last week.

In a written answer published ahead of the same meeting, cabinet member for transport Coun Philip Price did not deny a claim by his predecessor John Harrington that he, Coun Price, had said Herefordshire Council “has no interest in a railway station at Pontrilas”.

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Coun Price’s reply went on to say that the project “offers poor value for money [and] will not create additional capacity”.

“I would be unwilling to saddle the council with the additional financial risk that building a new station would present at this time,” he added.

Rail operator Transport for Wales declined to comment, while Ewyas Harold parish council did not respond.

The Department for Transport merely pointed out that Pontrilas was among proposals put forward for its Restoring Your Railway Fund, but which in June last year were “not found to be suitable for RYR funding at this time”.