Here is a link to a 8 November 2006 speech by Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport , Tom Harris.
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_railways/documents/page/dft_railways_613635.hcsp

In my view , the key quote is this one :

"And the specifications for franchises can be varied over time to reflect changing market needs."

I've had a look through the speech and he seems to be in a different world to ours.   Talk of major investment, of a system that's working and more reliable, and of newer trains ... there may be pockets of that where Mr Harris comes from (Glasgow) and how he gets there from London (up the West Coast main line), but we don't see it in our corner of Wiltshire.

As a cheap joke, I wondered whether to ask if there was a typo - should newer trains have read fewer trains?   But it's all too sad and serious for it to be a joke.

Would Mr Harris like to come to Friday's Melksham Rail Development Group meeting on his way home to Glasgow for the weekend ... I'ld love to meet him off the 17:02 or 18:09 arrival, and indeed he could make good use of his time from 17:43 (at Swindon) to 18:09 be explaining to the customers of that train about the increased reliability his government has brought us.