First Great Western Franchise

: I agree entirely. We know about the difficulties between inter-city services, but there is also a lack of interconnectivity between those services and local trains. We must factor in whether the timetable is deliverable. Several experts have said that as currently constructed, it is not. There are three instances every day whereby trains travelling in opposite directions are timetabled to meet on a single line between Kemble and Swindon. That is ridiculous. Time is short, and before the timetable is published, those issues must be considered afresh. We need a commitment from the Minister and First Great Western to resolve them. First is committed to provide £1.13 billion to the Government over 10 years. Some of that money must be reinvested in local services, otherwise the situation will get worse. One of my hon. Friends, who cannot attend today's debate, said to me that an underlying plot is in operation. First Group runs buses as well as trains in the area, and it would be useful for the group if many of the rural branch lines were replaced with bus services. There is one example of that in the timetable. The Avonmouth-Severn Beach service is being replaced with a bus. If rural lines are being decimated for fast interconnectivity city lines to London, that will be at the expense of many people. I hope that the Minister will consider those issues with First. The people of the south-west deserve better. We have had an excellent debate today and I hope that those concerns will be listened to.