Leather seats and laptops for commuters (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Leather seats and laptops for commuters

LEATHER seats and laptop connections for workaholic commuters are among the improvements to trains being considered by First Great Western for their key Cotswolds rail routes.

The company is considering a raft of ideas for the routes after being award a ten-year franchise at the beginning of this month.

Some were suggested by rail customers and focus groups which contributed to the company's research to win the extended franchise.

Spokesman Adrian Ruck said: "We had a huge response to consultations earlier this year, especially with regard to the timetable.

"The Cotswold route is one of our four key routes into Paddington.

"We are committed to revamping our trains and we are considering a number of ideas at the moment.

"It might mean leather seats for first class passengers and power points for laptops.

"We aim to increase capacity across the board, and also increase line speed allowing more trains."

The improvements will affect services through Worcester and Evesham, Honeybourne and Moreton, Mr Ruck said.

First Great Western's fleet of Adelante trains, which operate most Oxford-London express services, are set to disappear from the route in December.

They will be replaced by 125mph high speed trains, which may lose some buffet space and some first class seats to increase the amount of standard class accommodation.

HSTs already operate a number of Oxford-London services and the busiest peak-hour trains on the Cotswold Line through west Oxfordshire.

Mr Ruck stressed no final decisions had been taken, but added that the company was looking at using HSTs on additional routes from December.

FGW plans to form a fleet of 26 reconfigured HSTs for services linking London with Oxford, the Cotswolds, Worcester and Hereford, as well as Swindon, Bristol and Gloucester.

Another group of the 125mph trains, retaining buffet cars, would be used for long-distance trains.

There is no pressing need for changes, according to the company, as the next timetable change is not until the end of the year.

Cotswold Line Promotion Group chairman Derek Potter said FGW had confirmed the changes at a recent meeting at the Houses of Parliament with MPs, councillors and passenger representatives.

He added: "We think there will be an opportunity for them to drive up passenger numbers on the line, as there will be extra seats to be sold on bigger trains."

Mr Potter said that the refitted HSTs would be able to serve all the stations with short platforms on the Cotswold Line, as selective door locks will be fitted.

FGW is investing £200m in updating its HSTs after winning the new franchise.

The future of the 14 Adelante trains remains unclear, with one possibility being a move to FGW's sister company First ScotRail, for use on Glasgow-Edinburgh services.

However, Virgin Trains is also interested in acquiring the Adelantes for London-North Wales services, rather than taking Super Voyager tilting trains off CrossCountry services via Oxford and Banbury.