Maidenhead & Windsor

Maidenhead Commuters facing savage cuts to rail services were dealt another blow when it emerged that their Reading neighbours stand to gain from their misery.

Timetable proposals for 2007 show significantly reduced services from Maidenhead to Paddington during peak hours.

The draft timetable slashes the number of fast trains leaving Maidenhead station between 7am and 8am from five to just two. Peak services in Slough are also set to be slashed with existing fast trains to London due to make additional stops along the way.

But ten miles up the line, in Reading, the future looks a lot rosier with peak services set to increase by 20 per cent.

Deputy leader of the royal borough Cllr Simon Werner [Lib Dem: Pinkneys Green] described the news as "another punch in the face of Maidenhead commuters".

But train operator First Great Western (FGW) says it is not to blame for the disparity.

FGW claims that it offered to substantially increase the number of fast trains leaving Maidenhead when it submitted its bid for the new franchise.

But the proposals were rejected by Network Rail and the Department for Transport (DfT) who thought the improvements would upset the timetable in Reading, it said.

The news of the beefed-up Reading timetable emerged at a cabinet meeting held last Thursday evening.

The meeting was attended by Richard Rowland, general manager of Thames Trains at First Great Western, who gave a presentation outlining the proposals ahead of the March 3 deadline for objections. He admitted that Maidenhead commuters had drawn the short straw.

"The draft proposals contain plusses and minuses. For Maidenhead there are some minuses, but if you get further out there are plusses," he said, mentioning Reading.

After an ear bashing from members of the council, Mr Rowland promised FWG would go back to Rail Track and the DfT to argue the case for saving Maidenhead's peak services.

Cllr Malcolm Beer [OWRRA: Old Windsor] told the meeting: "The timetable will push traffic back on to the M4.

"The trains have been improving, numbers have been pushed up, and now they are trying to take it all away again."

ic Berkshire ~ Maidenhead