Will Arriva be better?

In his letter of October 20, Andrew Cooper says it is the intention of Arriva trains to bid for the forthcoming Cross Country rail contract. What guarantees can Arriva give of offering a better service than that of the present holder, Virgin Trains? Mr Branson invested a lot of money in giving us the best Manchester, Preston and Scottish services we have ever seen on these routes. Virgin have also invested in new rolling stock.

There are still some problems, the trains being shorter and some overcrowding, but Virgin should be congratulated for the improvements they have implemented and not lose the franchise.

What did Arriva offer when they took over North Western services to create Arriva Trains Wales? The first thing was to get rid of all the direct daytime services between Birmingham and North Wales and offer us a second-rate journey to Rhyl and Holyhead, byÊforcing us to change at Crewe, adding 40 minutes to the journey.

They took the Mid Wales services from Central Trains and we were subjected to a two-car train for most of the summer, instead of the three- or four-car trains that Central ran. Most were usually full and standing on arrival at Wolverhampton.

The Marshes line services from Shrewsbury are the worst for years.

So if Arriva cannot cope with the Franchise for Wales what wonderful surprises can we expect on the Cross Country services? Perhaps a two-car train to Edinbugh.

R J Hopton, Willow Avenue, Wednesfield.