DAVID Cameron has agreed to help a campaign for better transport links between Witney and Oxford.

The Prime Minister and Witney MP will write to Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin, to ask about what can be done to ease pressure on the A40.

It comes after a meeting with the Witney Oxford Transport group last Friday.

The group wants a 2001 feasibility study into reopening the railway line between Witney and Oxford, which closed in 1970, updated. It is estimated that an updated railway study would cost up to £20,000.

This would be an alternative to changes to the A40, namely dualling the carriageway.

Three solutions previously suggested by the transport group are a metro-style commuter train service between Oxford and Witney using existing lines and a section of disused track, a new concrete road exclusively used by buses and a revolutionary “tram-train’’ service where European-style trams operate over disused railway lines.

Group member Maurizio Fantato said: “One of our key objectives as a group is that there’s an independent study which looks at alternative modes of transport.’’ In June, members of the group walked along part of the former Witney railway branch line to highlight the campaign.

Mr Cameron was unavailable for comment as he is currently on holiday.

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