Vince Cable

Government ministers have told South West Trains to scale back its programme of cuts in station opening hours which would have left local stations unmanned at weekends and other off-peak periods and forced residents to rely exclusively on ticket machines.

Vincent Cable organised a petition against the cut backs and, based on the strength of local people' objections, appealed to SW Trains to reverse the proposed cuts for Strawberry Hill and Hampton stations particularly: "I am pleased to hear that the transport minister has intervened. SW Trains are doing very well financially with profits up 25% last year. Peak fare increase this month of 6% will bring in more money for them".

"Residents often struggle with broken machines or queues while trying to catch a train. I received strong expressions of concern about the impact of removing staff from ticket offices. I expect an announcement shortly on a much reduced cuts programme."