ACROSS the South West, it is predicted the Great Western railway network will have to cope with a huge increase in passengers over the next 10 years.

Further investment in the network is vital, meaning longer trains, more services and improved infrastructure.

The RUS predicts rail demand will increase at an average of 3.2 per cent per year. But we believe that population growth, local traffic conditions and increased cost of fuel mean that this figure is far too low. It also doesn't reflect the high levels of growth in rail patronage that have taken place in the region over the past 10 years.

Long-distance commuting and business travel makes up a large proportion of journeys in the South West, compared with national statistics.

A report carried out by the Department for Transport identified that 39 per cent of all car journey distances in the region are from commuting and business travel, which means a high level of carbon emissions.

It is important to tackle this issue and we believe rail services into main regional employment centres will have an important role to play.

High levels of growth are planned east of Exeter. The population is expected to grow by up to 56 per cent in the period to 2026, and this may be accommodated in urban extensions. It is important that any urban extensions that are near either existing or new stations are planned and developed in a more sustainable way to encourage rail use. We would also urge Network Rail to put a bigger focus on the DevonMetro project, which we believe will play an important part in meeting the needs of the growing population.

The region's rail network is set to change over the next decade and we welcome any measures which will make passengers more likely to travel by train.

However, our concern is that future demand has been underestimated and we are calling for more work to be done using revised figures for rail growth – five per cent per year in Exeter and the far South West, and six per cent for Bristol and the West of England, instead of the 3.2 per cent in the RUS.

The final document will be published by Network Rail in early 2010.