To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to improve public transport links between London and Chesham and Amersham. [123924]

Rail services between London, Chesham and Amersham are served by Chiltern Railways (M40 Trains Ltd.), for which an extended 20 year franchise was agreed in February last year. Contracted improvements include:

Restoration of double track between Bicester North and Aynho Junction to be commissioned in August 2002, removing the last single track bottleneck between London Marylebone and Birmingham Snow Hill

Full refurbishment of all existing Class 165s for completion during 2004 and the delivery of 15 additional vehicles between September 2002 and May 2005

Construction of a new depot in the London area, and extension of the existing depot at Aylesbury—to achieve better train reliability

Chiltern Rail will also be considering a project to reduce journey times and increase train frequency on the Metropolitan route between Marylebone and Aylesbury via Amersham will be developed and considered in March 2005—in the light of the SRA's priorities.