A lack of political will by both local and central government is failing to provide integrated transport in and around Devizes.

That was the feeling at a public forum organised by the Association of Kennet Passengers at Devizes Town Hall last week.

Transport campaigners from all over the district spoke of their frustrations at the lack of success in co-ordinating bus and train timetables and there was little enthusiasm for the idea of a virtual railway station.

This idea has been tried out with some success in Helston, Cornwall, where passengers can buy rail tickets, get information on bus and rail timetables and sit in comfort until a bus comes to take them to their nearest rail station.

But Jonathan Radley from First Great Western, Britain's biggest bus operator and third largest train company, said that Devizes' problem was that it was spoilt for choice when it came to rail stations.

Local passengers could choose to catch a train from Swindon,

Chippenham, Pewsey, Trowbridge, Westbury or even Andover, which made it very difficult to arrange bus and rail links.

He said: "It would be so much easier if there was only one railway station to choose from.

"We need to identify two or three

directions that the majority of people want."

He said only 220 tickets to and from Devizes through Swindon had been sold last year but it was pointed out that the slow take-up was because there is nowhere in Devizes to buy a rail ticket.

Kate Freeman, chairman of Kennet Passengers, said people in Devizes had more chance of landing on Titan than getting their own railway station.

The idea of a virtual railway station had been mooted after plans to

establish a station at Lydeway, just outside Devizes, had foundered

because of a lack of interest by rail companies and a lack of funding at county council level.

Major obstacles that prevent bus and rail integration came to light.

For example, the last number 49 bus to Devizes from Swindon leaves at 7.05pm and if the train is delayed, local commuters are faced with getting a taxi home.

Most passengers travel to rail stations by car, but experience a drastic lack of parking spaces.

The group agreed that any rail-bus link would have to be taken seriously by public transport users and be economically viable.

The Wigglybus service, the local service that goes off its route to pick up and put down passengers on request, was also discussed and suggestions were made about improvements.

It was suggested that there should be a changeover point between the Pewsey and Devizes routes at Alton Barnes or Beechingstoke rather than, as at present, outside a phone box in an otherwise deserted stretch of road.