THE Minister for Transport has responded to complaints made by the Alton Line Users Association (ALUA) about the service provided by South West Trains on the Alton line.

Following a letter sent last month to the DETR by Virginia Bottomley, who has been representing the ALUA, transport minister Lord MacDonald of Tradeston wrote back promising that Stagecoach Holdings plc, the preferred company for a new franchise, will focus on improving levels of customer satisfaction, will improve train reliability and punctuality, and will take steps toward relieving the overcrowding that currently exists on peak services.

In his letter to Mrs Bottomley, he said: "In order to achieve this, Stagecoach have committed to invest £1.7 billion over 15 years to provide more and longer trains, infrastructure improvements including platform extensions and major upgrades to stations (including Waterloo and Clapham Junction), and an increase in service frequency."

Lord MacDonald also claims that from the beginning of the franchise, Stagecoach will be subject to substantially more penalty payments if it performs badly.

He added: "Within the next 10 years the company aims to provide 15 out of 16 trains on time each day.

"Over the remainder of this year, Stagecoach have committed to introduce new trains, take steps to improve security, accelerate staff training and improve customer information."

Mrs Bottomley has welcomed the promises made by Stagecoach and commends the ALUA on their campaigning and their "excellent job identifying the shortcomings" of the railway service.

She said: "With the recent franchise announcement we all now look to Stagecoach to ensure their performance matches their promises.

"I shall be following the key concerns up shortly with the Stagecoach management."

She added: "Improvements on the Alton line are vital for Farnham where transport is becoming a crucial issue."