PRIME Minister David Cameron has said his Oxfordshire constituents deserved a better train service and that more needed to be done on the Cotswold Line.

The Witney MP also warned that train operators risked losing their franchise if they failed to run trains properly.

Responding to a question about a commuter service between Brighton and London Victoria, dubbed “the worst in Britain”, Mr Cameron said: “It’s extremely frustrating and I have constituents in Oxfordshire who sometimes don’t get the service they deserve.”

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He said more needed to be done on the Cotswold Line, from Oxford via Long Hanborough, Combe and Charlbury, en route to Worcester and Hereford.

The line is double-track from Charlbury to Evesham. However, the rest of the line is single-track, meaning that signalling problems on mainline routes can have a knock-on effect on the Cotswold Line services.

Mr Cameron said: “I know that some problems on the Cotswold Line continue, mainly owing to the single track still in place in parts along the line, and that more needs to be done.

“I will continue to work with First Great Western and Network Rail to ensure that this project continues to the satisfaction of rail users, who so heavily rely on this vital service so that we can provide a rail service that rural communities, like ours, can be proud of.”

Vice-chairman of Cotswold Line Promotion Group Derek Potter said: “The effects of the delays caused by signalling problems on First Great Western’s main lines between Reading and London Paddington are more pronounced on the Cotswold Line as it is a single track.

“I would like to see more of the track doubled.

“If someone decided First Great Western weren’t doing a very good job I can’t see how anyone could do a significantly different job with their infrastructure and rolling stock. They are doing the best they can with finite resources.”

First Great Western declined to comment.

In May last year, Mr Cameron wrote to Chancellor George Osborne and Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin, calling for funding to be committed for reinstatement of the second track from Charlbury to Wolvercote junction, north of Oxford, before the end of the current Parliament in May.

s During Prime Minister’s questions yesterday Mr Cameron described work going on in Oxford to develop an Ebola vaccine as “vitally important”.

Prof Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University, launched clinical vaccine trials with 60 patients back in September.

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