Plaid National Assembly Candidate for Monmouth Constituency, Jonathan Clark, has welcomed First Great Western's decision to reinstate the well used early morning trains (06.50am and 07.50am from Cardiff) via Severn Tunnel Junction from Monday, December 11. He has called for First great Western to reinstate equally the evening services (16.54 and 17.54 from Bristol Temple Meads) that currently call at Severn Tunnel Junction rather than to wait until March/ April, 2007. Jonathan Clark told The Beacon "I welcome First Great Western's decision to reinstate the 06.50 and 07.30 services via Severn Tunnel Junction, something that was allegedly impossible a few weeks ago. "I also call upon First great Western to equally speedily re-instate the 16.54 and 17.54 services from Bristol Temple Meads via Severn Tunnel Junction and not wait until March/April, 2007; also to address the issue of train carriage overcrowding that is being caused by running short trains on busy lines". The candidate added "These proposed cuts should never have happened, especially at a time when Governments in London and Cardiff are openly committed to attempting to persuade road users to use alternative transport".
