Rail Minister Tom Harris yesterday promised a "colossal" amount of investment in the South West's railway infrastructure during the talks at the Thistle Hotel about the future of the region's rail network.

A letter was presented to the minister by Travel Watch South West pressing for Government backing on proposals for another passing loop on the Exeter to Waterloo line to allow for hourly train services to and from the capital.

The letter also called for more trains in the region and expressed concern that the re-letting of the could lead to a reduction in services to the south west of Bristol.

David Redgewell, from Transport 2000, which is part of Travel Watch South West, said: "We want to make sure these services are maintained to Exeter and Plymouth.

"At the moment, in some services, people are packed in like sardines."

Among those at the talks were bosses from Network Rail, First Great Western and South West Trains, along with Devon County Council leader Brian Greenslade and Exeter City Council leader Roy Slack, and representatives from the South West Regional Assembly and the regional development agency.

Speaking to the Echo afterwards, Mr Harris said he had found the meeting constructive.

He said: "There were concerns that because of the remoteness of the peninsula and that because of the view that policy is London driven, that sometimes the South West gets overlooked in terms of transport planning and I was able to reassure them that was not the case.

"The South West has the fastest-growing population of any region and that will have an impact on transport demand.

"The infrastructure is among the worst in the country because of decades of under investment.

"I was able to reassure the meeting that colossal amounts of expenditure will be invested in the railway network and will have a benefit on rail services."

On the subject of recent hikes in train fares, Mr Harris said the price of fares regulated by the Government had fallen by two per cent in the last 10 years.

He said: "With other fares that are non-regulated it is up to rail regulators how much they are increased.

"If we bring more fares under regulation, then we have to give more Government subsidies to rail regulators and that money would have to come from taxes."

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MINISTER FACES TOUGH QUESTIONS OVER STATE OF DEVON RAIL SERVICES

Express & Echo: 20 March 2007

Rail Minister Tom Harris was set to face some tough-talking when he visits Exeter today to meet business and regeneration chiefs to discuss under- fire rail services.Much of the criticism has been aimed at train operator First Great Western over the level of its services.

But the general state of rail provision in the region, described in some quarters as "approaching meltdown" is a cause of continuing embarrassment to the Government, as it tries to get more people out of their cars and on to public transport in a bid to tackle congestion.

Immediate action has been demanded not only from First Great Western, but also ministers to tackle a catalogue of complaints including delays, cancellations, overcrowding and fare increases.

MPs at Westminster have accused both ministers and train bosses of blaming each other for the mess, and called on the Government to hold a train summit to address the thousands of complaints from commuters.

Government franchising failures had also contributed to the problems, they said.

Mr Harris has previously told MPs that he completely understood the frustration felt by First Great Western passengers and sympathised with the problems they faced.

Regional development agency officials were among those he was due to meet in the city to discuss rail services, which are seen as vital to the economy of the South West.

In the face of sustained criticism, First Great Western earlier this year said sorry to long-suffering passengers and pledged to improve services.

But the Government so far has failed to offer any such apology and laid the blame firmly at the door of the train operator.

It has even seen Commons Leader Jack Straw wade into the fray, branding services among the worst in the country.

A survey in recent years of businesses by the regional development agency on rail services found that reliability, quality and value for money were the top priorities.

But instead people had seen rising fares and overcrowded trains. It is estimated this could amount to losing three million rail passenger journeys a year - increasing road congestion, commuting and pollution, at the very time when efforts are being made to reduce the need to travel by car and encourage greater use of public transport.