London TravelWatch, the transport users’ watchdog, has expressed extreme disappointment that First Great Western’s (FGW) revised December 2006 timetable proposals have addressed very few of the concerns for passengers raised in the original consultation.

They responded to FGW’s consultation on the Greater Western timetable recently, setting out several concerns they had for passengers in West London.

Brian Cooke, London TravelWatch, said, “The new timetable proposals address hardly any of the concerns we had when we saw the first draft of the timetable – it’s extremely disappointing, and a bad day for passengers in the London area. We are particular concerned about the times of the last trains at many of the station in West London. For example, the last train on the Paddington-Greenford service is now before 9pm at night – this is quite daft in the 21st century. Passengers at Acton Main Line also suffer greatly in the new timetable – there are no trains west between 2054 and 2240 in the evening, and the last train will be almost an hour earlier than now at 2303 and they will still only have two trains an hour – which is simply not enough for so central a station.”

London TravelWatch also has serious concerns about West Ealing, Hanwell, Southall and West Drayton stations – all stations which they say are not being provided with the service they deserve.

Brian Cooke concluded, “Once again, passengers in the heavily used London area have been ignored at the expense of those on longer-distance routes. It seems to us that FGW do not care about the passengers in the London area but are only concerned about the longer distance traveller, who provides higher revenue. Train operators must look after the interest of all their passengers and not just those that give them the highest income.”

London TravelWatch is the operating name for the London Transport Users Committee. They are the official watchdog representing the interests of transport users in and around London, and independent of the transport operators and government. London TravelWatch is sponsored and funded by the London Assembly, part of the Greater London Authority.

April 6, 2006