ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners have urged Lancashire's frustrated rail users to text their displeasure direct to Chancellor Gordon Brown.

Pressure group Friends of the Earth will accept the mobile phone message, turn it into a e-mail and send it the Treasury to encourage greater rail investment.

Tony Bosworth, the group's transport campaigner, also revealed a number of initiatives which he claims could improve the region's rail network quickly and cheaply.

"Rail users in the North West are fed up," he said. "They have put up with a poor service for too long and want to see improvements.

"Many of the changes needed will obviously take a long time, but we can do a lot relatively quickly to make fares cheaper, to make stations safer, to run more trains when people want them and to make it easier to get to and from stations.

"All of these would be small but significant improvements and there's no reason why they can't happen, or at least be started within months rather than years. It's up to the Government to find the money and the rail industry to take the lead in making things happen. Passengers in the North West will settle for no less."

Rail users have battled almost daily to travel across East Lancashire this year as the region's two train operators have been affected by strikes.

Conductors of Arriva Trains Northern (ATN) have walked out two days every month, cancelling the TransPennine Express through Preston, Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley each time. ATN was also fined £2 million last month after a failure to recruit enough drivers last year led to the sporadic cancellation of services.

Drivers of First North Western have staged six days of strike action affecting the East Lancashire Line from Clitheroe to Manchester and Preston to Colne.

Mr Bosworth said other initiatives rail operators could use included introducing an off-peak discount card.

The number to text frustrations to is 07764 125 125.