Railway stations which do not attract enough travellers will be closed and the passengers moved on to buses, Alistair Darling has said.

The transport secretary told a national rail conference that the government was "not in the business of carting around fresh air" and said that timetables had to fit the demand.

"If you have a service where, for example, only four passengers are using the service, then we need to ask questions about whether maintaining the existing rail service is the right way forward - or whether buses or light rail could provide a better and more flexible alternative for passengers," he said.