This afternoon, local MP Kevin Foster chaired a meeting at Westminster with CrossCountry Trains CEO Andy Cooper, and their Head of Communications Richard Gibson.
He was joined by Richard Cuming from the English Riviera Tourism Company, Anne Marie Morris MP and staff, and a representative from Dr Sarah Wollaston MP's office.
Commenting on the meeting, Kevin said, "CrossCountry unreservedly apologised for the poor way in which they have communicated their proposals to dramatically cut direct rail services to the Bay. In a frank and honest exchange of views however, they were adamant that their proposals to cut the services remain unaltered."
"Their justification for this was completely unacceptable - that overcrowding on other routes within their network must be addressed by taking rolling stock from ours. I made clear that as the local MP I will lead a campaign against this - I plan to present a local petition objecting to these cuts to Parliament by Christmas, and I will also be personally raising my objections to CrossCountry's cuts with the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling MP."
"I urge the local community to now support and sign the petition that will appear in this week's Herald. My team will also be out in the Bay securing signatures, whilst we are working very closely with the local tourist and business communities, both of whom are adamant that these cuts to the train service will be potentially very damaging to the Bay."
The Bay relies on the CrossCountry train service to bring much needed tourists and visitors directly to us from the Midlands and the North of England. Please sign the petition, as these proposed cuts are simply unacceptable."