They claim a reduced timetable will increase overcrowding and force passengers back on to already congested roads.

ANGRY campaigners went on the march in protest over cuts to the region's rail services. They claim a reduced timetable will increase overcrowding and force passengers back on to already congested roads.

A group of about 50 vocal campaigners gathered at Bristol Temple Meads station yesterday before marching to regional government offices at nearby Temple Quay to hand over a letter of protest to transport chiefs. They are furious about plans by Swindon-based train operator First Great Western (FGW) to axe a number of trains, and a number of seats on other trains, when the winter timetable begins on Sunday.

Campaigners claim FGW will be cutting train seats in the greater Bristol area by 1,839 a day from Sunday - a 20 per cent drop - with the number of trains also slashed from 69 to 60 - a 13 per cent decrease.

But FGW regional manager Andrew Griffiths insisted yesterday that the company had made a number of adjustments to services that would see "pretty much the same number of seats" remaining available.

Mr Griffiths said train timetables would change with most seats lost on local commuter trains transferred to High Speed Services.

He said passengers would simply have to "adjust" to the new patterns being introduced.

But furious transport union chiefs insisted the changes were detrimental to the West's long-suffering commuters.

Rail Maritime Union (RMT) spokesman Alex Gordon said: "It's true that some Inter City 125 services, which is what First Great Western calls High Speed Trains, will now be stopping at intermediate stations between Bristol and Weston-super-Mare to counter the local services being withdrawn.

"But these will be very limited and won't run at the times when most people want to travel.

"And what will happen when these so-called High Speed Trains are running late from London?

"We believe they will revert to being 'fast' services and then won't actually stop at the smaller stations, leaving passengers stranded on platforms."

Nigel Costley, South West secretary of the TUC, said: "It's hard to get your head around the fact they are taking out seats and trains at a time when we should be celebrating the extension of railways. It's a real shame.

"It's all about the ownership and control of our railways. We have got to have a publicly owned transport system."

Labour MP for Bristol East, Kerry McCarthy, who tabled an early day motion on the matter in the Commons, said the entire public transport system in the greater Bristol area required an overhaul.

She said: "It's not that people don't want to use trains and buses.

"They're finding the trains are full to the brim at peak times and they're left on the platforms.

"People will return to their cars if that happens and that will only cause more gridlock on the roads."

Yesterday's protest, which was organised by RMT's Bristol Rail branch, was also supported by Transport 2000, Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways, Save Severn Tunnel Junction Train Services, and campaigners who want to see the line to Portishead reopened.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "If the Government wants to meet the climate challenge set out so starkly by the Stern report it must tell First Great Western that these cuts are unacceptable.

"We need to see greater rail capacity, more trains and more seats, and any attempt to cut them should be met with howls of protest." Andrew Griffiths, First Great Western regional manager, said: "There have been some extra trains organised for the morning peak hours and evening peak hours which means we will have pretty much the same number of seats available when the new timetable starts on Sunday as there are now.

"More of those seats will become available on high speed services, rather than on the smaller commuter trains."

See also:

A BRAVE NEW WORLD OF RAIL IS SHRINKING

Western Daily Press: 09 December 2006
Editorial Comment

LOTS of brave and exciting promises were made when First Great Western won the franchise to run train services for the whole of the West Country.

But when the full extent of FGW's plans for the region's rail network finally emerged, people were less than thrilled with what was on offer.

And from this weekend its plans will finally come into effect and the full ramifications will be felt by those who rely on public transport to get to work. The number of trains in and out of the regional capital will fall by an estimated 20 per cent each day.

Trade unions and passenger groups came together yesterday to air their dissatisfaction with the changes to the timetable and deliver a letter of protest. The gesture will probably make very little difference as all the important decisions have already been made by the train company.

But at a time when our roads are becoming ever more clogged and pollution continues to soar it does seem more than a little strange that we are cutting back on rail services.