ALL candidates standing in West Worcestershire are being urged before next week's General Election to pledge their support for upgrading rail services through Pershore.

Rail campaigners are deeply concerned that Pershore - the second largest town on the Cotswold Line between Worcester and Oxford - will be condemned to a second-class rail service

This is due to the conflicting demands of the new Worcester Parkway station and the plans for a two-hour journey timing between Worcester Parkway and London.

Pershore's Public Transport Group is calling for hourly services through Pershore with the introduction of new fast trains from December 2018.

The group has sent a letter to all candidates seeking their support for the upgrade to cater for the massive growth of over a third in passenger numbers over the last five years.

They say Pershore now sees well over 100,000 passenger journeys a year, a number that is only likely to increase with up to 600 houses being built within a third of a mile of the station.

The group maintains that increases in track capacity with completion of the 20-mile double-tracking project would have allowed the introduction of an hourly service on the Cotswold Line serving Pershore six years ago and points to timings of just over two hours between London and Worcester achieved by the Adelante trains - calling at both Pershore and Honeybourne - as far back as 2005.

Group chairman Julian Palfrey said : " The major increase in usage from Pershore has also been achieved despite the sad and sorry saga of the desperate lack of car parking at the station over a 15-year period which has been littered with false dawns, broken promises and loss of funding.We are also seeking candidates' support for the earliest possible resolution of the continuing impasse."