MP's railway worry

08 February 2010

TRANSPORT ministers stand accused of fudging the solution to train over-crowding in the Weston area.

The town's MP John Penrose says he is not receiving the assurances residents deserve over the issue of 44 new carriages for the South West.

Extra rolling stock was promised to fulfil the Government's targets for increasing capacity by 2014.

But in a letter to Mr Penrose, junior transport minister Chris Mole said he could not confirm whether the carriages will materialise due to the confidentiality of negotiations.

Mr Penrose said: "The Government are being tight-lipped on how they'll deliver these improvements, and the fact that they're not even willing to confirm that they're still planning to meet them is extremely worrying."

He added that the carriages are crucial to improving transport links for Weston and freeing up the town's roads.

In his letter, Mr Mole wrote: "Negotiations are underway with First Great Western to provide additional capacity on services around Bristol."

The cascaded carriages are likely to be introduced over the next 12-18 months, he added.