A LOCAL rail-users' group, incensed by a rail company's decision to introduce slower trains and remove vital stops along its Alton to London service, is piling on the pressure in a last-ditch attempt to reverse the plans.

The Alton Line Users' Association (ALUA) has been fighting South West Trains (SWT) to re-think its introduction of a new timetable that could add up to 30 minutes on to some travelling times.

This week the group launched a direct public-awareness campaign that has seen members at Alton railway station handing out leaflets entitled "Say No To Slower Trains!".

The leaflet asks passengers to "spend 10 minutes of your time to protest" by writing to local MPs, Andrea Darling - the Secretary of State for Transport - and various managers within the rail service, before the December 12 implementation date.

The extra off-peak stops at Brookwood, West Byfleet and Surbiton will mean "overall journey times will be the slowest for 40 years", it said, while the planned withdrawal of the Clapham Junction stop from the current 6-50 am service to Waterloo "will affect dozens of commuters" who rely on this station to get to Victoria and south London. This move alone will add an extra 30 minutes on to a journey.

Chris Campbell, ALUA chairman, has called for an extension to the proposed evening peak-time service, in line with the existing 4 to 7 pm regime, and for a reversion of off-peak services back to the current system of alternating fast and slow trains.

In future, he said, trains that now take 64 minutes will take up to 82 minutes to complete the journey, a direct result of SWT's decision to schedule the majority of trains to stop at the extra stations.

However, fast through-trains will run during a reduced rush-hour period between 6 am and 8-15 am and from 5 pm to 6-30 pm.

But, the leaflet insists, this is also unsatisfactory.

"Although most morning peak journey times to Waterloo will improve, some passengers could find up to 16 minutes added to their journeys home from work.

"Monday-to-Friday services from Waterloo to Alton will be nearly eight minutes slower on average. Off peak services from Alton to Waterloo will also be much slower.

"Other stations will be similarly affected and, in some cases, will suffer from even greater increases in journey times."

The statement concluded with a damning indictment on the train company's treatment of both Altonians and other affected train users living further down the line in Ash Vale, Aldershot, Farnham and Bentley.

"All this represents a major deterioration in the service. The Alton line is officially the worst performing on the SWT network, so actual journey times could be worse."

The representation and support ALUA has enjoyed from political figures since the dispute began in August has been considerable.

Last week Mike Roberts, the Labour environment spokesman for Hampshire and an executive member of ALUA, slammed SWT's planned timetable changes as "illegal".

He claimed that the changes do not conform to the Strategic Rail Authority's public service requirement, as laid down in 1995.

"Parliamentary questions are to be tabled to the Secretary of State on this matter, seeking urgent clarification," he said in a statement to The Herald.

He also highlighted that, given the support of local MPs and councils "at all levels, the momentum against these changes is building".

"Many of us are doing our bit to put the pressure on. I would urge all commuters to do their bit as well."

This should not be done by complaining to local station staff, he advised, but by "tackling senior management".

And last month, Farnham MP Virginia Bottomley chaired a meeting at Westminster for those members whose constituents will be affected by SWT's decision to slow down the service.

Alton MP Michael Mates, and his North East Hampshire colleague, James Arbuthnot, who is responsible for commuter areas such as Bordon, Kingsley, Froyle and Bentley, were in attendance to fight ALUA's corner.

All three MPs are concerned about the impact of the new timetable on what Mrs Bottomley describes as the Alton/Farnham to Waterloo "transport life-line".

"Over the years as MP, I have consistently worked closely with the Alton Line Users' Association," she said in a statement to The Herald. "They do a great job for the community. We have campaigned tirelessly together.

"As a result of their efforts a recent triumph has been the Alton line re-designation as a 'main line', rather than the less important 'outer suburban' designation. There has also been a great welcome for the better performing rolling stock."

"But," she warned, "while people fully appreciate the financial restrictions faced by SWT, it is deeply disappointing that the company now intends, with its December 2004 timetable, to add additional stops in both directions, which will add eight to 15 minutes to the current journey time.

"Equally worrying is the plan, in some cases, to delete the existing stop at Clapham Junction. This vastly adds flexibility to London commuters."