Twyford

A letter from Twyford MP Theresa May

"Thank you very much for your continued support of the campaign for a full train service to Maidenhead and Twyford. I thought I should up-date you on the campaign since the timetable for December has now been published and it is some time since I last emailed to you about the campaign.

I have continued to apply pressure to the Department of Transport and First Great Western (FGW) on this issue. In March I wrote to Derek Twigg, MP, the Under Secretary of State at the Department of Transport, calling for a full reinstatement of all fast and semi-fast services. Four months later he responded - but as his reply was not specific to my questions, nor the concerns of the people of Maidenhead and Twyford, I have written back asking for a full answer.

The good news is that, as a result of our campaign, FGW have decided to make two changes to their original proposed timetable. They will bring in a new train starting at Twyford at 7.04, calling at Maidenhead and will reinstate the 07.26 from Twyford.. Both should take approximately 30 minutes to arrive in London Paddington.

This is clearly not good enough and there is still a lot of work to be done. Out of the 21.2 million passengers travelling into Paddington in 2002-3, 7.2 million come from Berkshire, more than from any other area; and that 72% of passengers using Paddington come from the Inner Thames Valley commuter belt. There is no reason why the FGW December 2006 timetable should prioritise inter-city services into Paddington at the expense of commuter traffic from Maidenhead, Twyford and the wider Thames Valley commuter belt.

I will continue to press the Department of Transport and FGW for a complete reinstatement of all fast and semi-fast trains to Maidenhead and Twyford. It will take a change of policy from the Government but I am determined to continue to press for the better train service that we have enjoyed in the past. I shall continue to keep you inform of the progress. "

Sincerely,

Theresa May