PM petitioned over rail services

More than 2,000 passengers were said to have used fake tickets

A group of rail users fed-up with late and crowded trains throughout the west have set up a petition on the Prime Minister Tony Blair's website.

More than 400 people have signed the petition which calls for a reliable train service with adequate capacity at times travellers wish to make journeys.

They want an immediate return to the timetable which was changed last year.

First Great Western (FGW) spokeswoman Elaine Wilde said many protesters took fake tickets but still paid their fare.

On Monday campaigners said about 2,000 rail passengers refused to pay fares in a day of protest over services.

Immediate return

Protest group More Trains Less Strain said passengers travelling between Bristol and Bath handed in fake tickets rather than pay for real ones.

Tony Ambrose from the campaign group said problems began in December when the number of carriages and frequency of trains was reduced.

The petition calls for "an immediate return of a service that meets the needs of travellers in Wiltshire, Bristol, B&NES and South East Wales" and includes all intermediate stations and journeys in both directions.

FGW said the problems had been caused by a backlog of maintenance work which the company was working hard to clear.

Regional manager Andrew Griffiths said earlier: "We do understand why people have been upset.

"We have had these maintenance difficulties, but our new £8m depot in Bristol has pretty much caught up with the backlog."