First Great Western Franchise

: I am grateful to the hon. Lady for that intervention. The theme that she mentions seems to be a recurring one, because the Waterloo to Bristol service was commended by the Minister's predecessors. Following the network user strategy of 2003, it was scheduled to be enhanced. We were going to get more trains, but now we find that that particular service is going to be axed completely, unless it can continue through a costed option under the new franchise from February 2007. We are suffering from a stop-start service, and the difficulty is that once people are used to not using a service, they will not go back to it. We found that in west Wiltshire; there needs to be continuity so that people get into the habit of using rail transport. The south coast to Bristol to south Wales railway route is the second most heavily used passenger railway in the west of England: its use is exceeded only by the M4 corridor route that links the west of England with London. That is a very important point, which the Minister must understand. More than 5 million passenger journeys are made each year and growth in use is about 8 per cent. per annum, but we find that this particular service is scheduled for wholesale reductions. That is simply unacceptable. In the Bristol and Bath to south coast study, endorsed by the South West regional assembly and drawn up by Government office for the south-west, we saw that this route was considered important. I hope that the Minister has examined a letter on this subject dated yesterday—he probably has not seen it yet, but I hope he will do so shortly—from the Cabinet member for the environment, transport and economic development, Councillor de Rhé Philipe. It is signed off by chief executives of Bristol city council, Wiltshire county council, West Wiltshire district council and Salisbury district council, and by the chairman of the South West regional assembly planning and transport committee. They all stress the points that I have articulated today. I hope that the Minister reads the letter. It is a good letter that sets out the points very clearly and relates particularly to an extremely valuable link. In the time available, I should like briefly to mention the Bristol to Waterloo service, which is a vital service for my constituents. I know that the Minister will consider the matter carefully as the preferred bidders put their plans forward. It is a costed option, and I hope that he will use that as one of the foremost criteria when deciding which of the preferred bidders should run this important service.