The future of high speed commuter Virgin train links between Lichfield,
Tamworth and other smaller towns and London have been thrown into doubt
following a letter received by Michael Fabricant from Transport
Minister, Derek Twigg MP.

The Minister, responding to an earlier letter from Michael Fabricant
questioning the continued availability of direct high speed Pendolino
services from Lichfield to London and back, says that following the
completion of the four tracking of the West Coast Main Line north of
Lichfield and the remodelling of tracks at Rugby and Milton Keynes
railway stations, "to reap the full economic benefit from the
considerable public investment in this project, it is vital that
passengers are attracted to the route in large numbers and the best way
to do this is to ensure that there are fast and frequent trains between
London and the major cities." He goes on to explain that by ‘major
cities’ he means Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Preston and Glasgow.
He says that Lichfield (and other routes – such as Tamworth) to London
services will be augmented "using the new fleet of 100mph air
conditioned ‘Desiro’ units. Although the journey times achieved by the
Desiros will not match the Pendolinos, this will still be an extremely
attractive service."

Michael Fabricant says: "The expansion and wealth of Lichfield has come
about partly because of a recognition that a pleasant work-life balance
can be achieved by living in Staffordshire and commuting on 125mph
virtually non-stop Pendolino trains to London with journey times reduced
to around 100 minutes. The new Desiro trains, while being more
frequent, are slower and will stop at many more stations en route
resulting in greatly increased travel times. This will not be
acceptable to commuters and will make Lichfield a less attractive place
in which to live for those who commute to work.

"I have now written back to Derek Twigg explaining this and asking
whether he will now make clear that the number of existing Pendolino
services at peak times will be maintained after 2008. If he remains
unequivocal about this, I will urge Lichfield District Council and
Staffordshire County Council to join me in lobbying the Department for
Transport who dictate the train franchise contracts. 2009 may seem a
long way off, but I do not intend to let this matter rest!" adds
Michael.