Train services between Oxford and Bicester should be improved, not reduced, according to county councillor Dr Robert East.

Dr East, who represents Islip -- which has a station on the line -- described Thames Trains' decision to reduce the number of trains from next weekend (May 17-18) as short-sighted.

He said a better service aimed mainly at commuters was needed to ease traffic congestion on the A34.

Thames Trains is withdrawing late-evening services on the line on weekdays and Saturdays when the summer timetable starts on May 18.

The company said the cost of running the evening services far exceeded the income from the handful of passengers using them.

But the decision has angered Oxfordshire County Council and Rail users in Bicester.

Dr East said the rail industry had only itself to blame, with improvements to the "Third World" Bicester Town station badly needed, while the trains were often late and unreliable.

He said: "The station is half-demolished, filthy, unprotected from constant vandalism, and served by a car park that's too small. The service needs to be expanded, not degraded."

The council has been calling for an improved Bicester to Oxford service to cut road congestion.

It is a key member of the East-West Rail Consortium which backs the return of passenger services linking Oxford and Bicester to Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge.

Adrian Saunders, the council's rail development officer, said: "We're bitterly disappointed. The development of services between Oxford and Bicester is one of our priority rail projects."

Jonathan Radley, for Thames Trains, defended the decision. He said: "On a typical weekday evening, on average, only three people use the service. Some have only one passenger on board a 186-seat train."

North Oxfordshire MP Tony Baldry has been told by the Strategic Rail Authority that money to re-open the line between Bicester Town and Milton Keynes was unlikely to be forthcoming for several years.