TRAVELLERS wanting to leave Lancaster on a Sunday will have to wait longer than passengers at any other principal station in England when the winter timetable comes into force this weekend, a new survey has revealed.

Now members of the local Green Party say they will be using the results of an SRA survey to demand improvements from Railtrack, Virgin Trains, First North Western and the Strategic Rail Authority.

The first London-bound train from Lancaster will not leave until after 3pm and out of over 100 principal stations only at the remote Fort William in the Scottish Highlands are passengers kept waiting longer.

The Sunday service begins later than on other days but 50 per cent of principal stations have a service before 8.15am and 90 per cent by 10.15am.

Lancaster's poor level of service has been attributed to how engineering work is organised in the area since before privatisation.

Green Party County Councillor Jonathan Sear said: "Railtrack is not acting in the interests of the travelling public by imposing these blanket closures on the line. I cannot believe that closing the line between Oxenholme and Preston on 35 Sundays every year is unavoidable. If the Government wants to allow Railtrack to remain a private company it must ensure that the Strategic Rail Authority has the clout to insist on engineering work being carried out in a way that minimises disruption.

He added: "In the short term we will be campaigning for a rail replacement bus, or a shuttle train whenever possible, to be provided between Lancaster and Preston on Sunday mornings. However once the modernisation of the West Coast Main Line is completed in 2003 we want a commitment to a proper Sunday service. The days when no-one wanted to travel anywhere on a Sunday are over. Lancaster has put up with the worst service in the country for too long. It is time for the rail industry to move into the 21st century."