David Heath welcomes Frome train victory

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 4th Apr 2006

David Heath today welcomed the U-turn by First Great Western Trains that means that the local morning train service from Frome will be retained rather than cancelled as had been planned.

The good news is that Frome will also have its new direct service to London, which has been campaigned for over many years.

First Great Western have announced that they have rethought their controversial plans to cancel the 08.12 service following an outcry from local people, lead by David Heath. They have said that they will now arrange a new service at approximately the same time in the morning to meet the needs of the train users.

David Heath said: "This is excellent news for Frome and shows that ordinary people can occasionally make their voice heard. The loss of the service would have been very damaging to many people in Frome and I know they will be delighted to hear that First Great Western have thought again.

"Taken with the new direct service to London that we have campaigned for for many years, it means that Frome has a genuinely enhanced rail service which goes some way towards meeting the needs of the town."