THERE'S a "real danger" people will abandon green transport and go back to their cars if railway capacity does not meet increasing demand in Dorset.

That's the view of the man responsible for transport at the South West Regional Assembly.

Julian Johnson has just told the House of Commons Transport committee house building and increased passenger numbers are racing ahead of capacity targets.

He told the Echo the government's new 30 rail strategy predicts a 22 per cent growth in passengers numbers by 2014 - but passenger numbers are rising by 10 per cent a year.

"That's means we could hit the 2014 target in two years, or so," said Mr Johnson, a councillor for Wiltshire.

He said if the problems is not addressed it would leave crowded carriages and drive people back to their cars.

"I suspect the committee were not aware of how successful we had been in growing the region," he added. "But we have a very poor train service."

He called for more work between the government departments responsible for housing and transport, so the area's expansion and growth is understood by rail bosses in the Government.

He warned: "At the committee the question was asked, how much has the Department of Transport been in contact with the Department for Communities and Local Government? The answer was very, very little."

The transport committee is currently holding an enquiry into the government's 30-year rail strategy, which was published last year.