Improvements to service could be on the way (From Witney Gazette)

Improvements to service could be on the way

2:19pm Wednesday 10th January 2007 in Witney By William Crossley

COTSWOLD Line commuters who are up in arms over unreliable rail services have welcomed news that improvements to the route could be on the way.

Network Rail has ordered a study of options for reinstatement of a second track on some or all of the single-track sections of the route, which links Oxford with Worcester.

The Cotswold Line Promotion Group, which represents passengers who use the route, has asked them to send in e-mails detailing problems with their journeys, since First Great Western launched its new timetable last month.

The group estimates that ten per cent of timetabled trains on the route have been cancelled in the past four weeks. Of the trains which ran, it says at least 80 per cent were late.

FGW spokesman, Adrian Ruck, said the company's target was 90 per cent of trains on time.

He added: "We regret it if this doesn't happen for any reason. Our performance generally, in terms of punctuality and reliability, has been increasing over recent months."

Long single-track sections on the line, including one running 14 miles from Wolver-cot junction, north of Oxford, to Ascott-under-Wychwood, mean that a delay to one train can snowball to affect others, which have to wait to head in the opposite direction.

The effects of these knock-on delays on services between Oxford, Didcot, and London, and the reintroduction of freight trains on the route in Worcestershire are thought to be behind Network Rail's decision to look at improving capacity.

CLPG vice-chairman, John Ellis, was at a meeting of the Cotswold and Malverns Transport Partnership - which represents councils, train operators and users of the Oxford-Worcester-Hereford rail lines - where the study was announced.

He said: "The key thing is that Network Rail has approved costings for the study of options. This is clear progress from where things stood not so long ago."

In 2005, the former Strategic Rail Authority poured cold water on the idea of improving the route's capacity. Mr Ellis said that members of the partnership were hoping to hear more details of the scope of the study.

He added that once the study was complete, a decision on whether work should be carried out could be taken by the end of this year, although it could take until 2009 for work to get underway.

As well as reducing delays, extra double track on the route could allow regular, hourly off-peak services, with a 30-minute interval at rush-hour, and mean more trains stopping at Shipton station, to serve the Wychwoods villages and Burford, easing pressure on Charlbury station.

A Network Rail spokesman said: "We are looking at options to improve performance and the infrastructure along the Cotswold Line, however details on the scope of the work and the funding have yet to be confirmed."

* For more details of the CLPG's performance monitoring campaign, see www.clpg.co.uk/ train%20monitoring.htm