EXTENDED rail routes and longer trains should be introduced to help commuters who travel between Kidderminster and Birmingham, rail bosses have said.

More people were using the train to get in and out of the city and measures must be put in place to meet demand at peak times, according to the Strategic Rail Authority.

Reintroducing a direct service to Birmingham New Street - a major interchange for the UK - has not been re-examined, however.

The SRA - which directs how Britain's rail network should be performing - is looking at ways to make best use of the West Midlands rail network during the next six years. The options are presently out for consultation.

The report by the SRA said options for Kidderminster included changing the inside layout of carriages and lengthening trains.

Services which come from Birmingham Snow Hill should continue to Kidderminster, instead of turning back from Stourbridge Junction, it also recommended.

Extra services could be provided in the evening but there was "little possibility" of increasing the number of trains to run at peak hours. This would have provided an extra train an hour.

More choice was vital, the SRA said in the report, which has been submitted to Wyre Forest District Council for comments. Of the people who commute into central Birmingham, 20 per cent now travel by train compared to 12 per cent in 1991.

Passenger numbers went up by 51 per cent between 1995 and 2004, compared to 34 per cent throughout the UK. A total of 926,00 people used the Kidderminster station in 2003-04.

The recommendations were accepted by the district council's cabinet on Wednesday of last week. Members backed officer comments which stated that the station would need to be improved to accommodate more passengers.

No recommendation was made by the SRA, however, to again run a service from Kidderminster to Birmingham New Street.

There was outrage when the service was withdrawn in May, 2004 as passengers now have to walk to New Street - which connects to Birmingham International Airport - from Birmingham Snow Hill or Moor Street.

The district council officer's report said the effect of this should be examined. The SRA should also look at running more direct trains from Kidderminster to London Marylebone at peak times.

The SRA report - called the West Midlands Route Utilisation Strategy - did also "not appear to have considered the issue of through journeys from Kidderminster to most towns beyond the West Midlands".