West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has today urged train operating companies bidding for a new 15-year franchise for the Malvern to London rail line to do more than the minimum to win her backing. The Minister for Transport, Theresa Villiers, today wrote to Harriett outlining the Department of Transport’s minimum expectations for a train service from London to Worcestershire and Hereford beyond. The specification includes a minimum of 16 direct trains per weekday from London to Worcester, eight to Malvern and four to Hereford. Train operating companies could then create extra connections from Worcester to Malvern and beyond. The length of the franchise will allow the successful bidder to invest in infrastructure and rolling stock to give county passengers an improved service to London. However, the franchise minimum specification falls short of the hourly service Harriett and other local MPs had called for in the consultation. Harriett has been a long-term campaigner for an improved Cotswold Line and so far some double-tracking and better carriages have been delivered, making the service more comfortable and more reliable. Harriett said: “These minimum service levels are well below what I think a successful bidder should achieve and I hope the four shortlisted firms will aim high. “If there was a regular, reliable, hourly service from the area to London, it would attract passengers that are currently being lost to Birmingham International, Warwick Parkway, Newport and Swindon.” “The Cotswold Line has been a Cinderella service since the 1970s and it is now turning the corner and improving again. “With this 15 year franchise it is vital that we are ambitious and demanding and generate some real competition for the service. I will write to each of the bid teams to make this point.” “The Government has also confirmed that the London to Oxford service will be electrified. “Resignalling works at Worcester will happen by 2018 and passengers will be able to use convenient Oyster-style prepay automated ticketing. “The tender document also speaks warmly of the case for a Worcester Parkway station and praises the work of the County Council in making the case and urges the winning Train Operating Company to work with the County on this ambitious scheme.” “Worcester Shrub Hill and Foregate Street are in an often-congested City Centre and do not have the convenient parking that a Worcester Parkway station would have for my constituents in West Worcestershire.”