SAVE OUR TRAIN: WEST WILTS MP Andrew Murrison believes there is still time to save a west Wiltshire train service threatened with the axe.

Dr Murrison believes the buck stops with Arriva Trains, the new service franchisee, and hopes bosses can be convinced to take on the Waterloo service.

Speaking to the Wiltshire Times this week, he said: "It is Arriva's shout, and they will only go with it if it is viable.

"They cannot just take it on, but have to make sure it fits into the timetable."

Dr Murrison said the blame for the confusion over the fate of the service, which calls at Bradford on Avon, Trowbridge and Warminster, lies with the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), which failed to put the train on the list of services Arriva must keep up when it takes over the Wales & Borders franchise.

The SRA has suggested replacing it with a service starting at Bristol, with one Wiltshire stop at Salisbury, before going on to Waterloo.

To add to the confusion, last week a spokesman for Arriva Trains told the Wiltshire Times it could not take responsibility for the service as the SRA had not included it in its contract of services that had to be maintained.

Dr Murrison is waiting for a reply from Bob Davies, chief executive of Arriva Trains, after requesting an urgent meeting.

Rail passenger Alexander Wordsworth, from Warminster, is one of hundreds who have written to us in support of the service.

Mr Wordsworth said: "As a regular traveller on trains throughout the country, I am used to the sinking feeling associated with consistently delayed and cancelled train services, yet the London Waterloo service is a rare exception."

Copies of all of your letters are being sent to the SRA and Arriva Trains Ltd.

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