Maidenhead & Windsor

The Maidenhead Royal Borough is reinforcing its tough stance against train operator First Great Western on behalf of frustrated local commuters in the wake of the company's new rail timetable which sees fewer fast trains from Maidenhead to London.

The Maidenhead council has this week sent a further letter to First Great Western's customer services director expressing its disappointment at the cuts in services to London – and its regret that comments made in February this year were not taken on board in the implementation of the new timetable.

Cllr Antony Wood, lead member for Maidenhead transport said this week: "We have been writing to First Great Western and inviting them to come to meetings with us since the beginning of this year in a bid to try to safeguard the travelling conditions of so many of our local residents who use their services day in and day out, in particular those thousands of local people who commute to London every day.

"We will also be seeking meetings with Network Rail who are the real villains of this piece because they have made strategic decisions to give priority to destinations such as Reading and Oxford to the west of Maidenhead.

"We are doing all we can to promote the use of public transport, and are bitterly disappointed that our comments appear to have been disregarded over the last few months, in particular with reference to the removal of many of the regular fast trains from Maidenhead to Paddington.

"We are also dismayed to learn that the operator currently has no plans to improve the service until May 2008. These trains are vital to so many of our residents, and we will continue to fight to have them reinstated and to impress on the train operator and Network Rail the need to provide a much more acceptable quality of service."

The Maidenhead council's letter to First Great Western reiterates the comments it made following consultation in February and strongly opposes:

· any reduction in services to and from Maidenhead – pointing out that there are 16% more passengers using the station now than in 2002

· the withdrawal of all fast trains from the station

· any reduction of services to and from Slough (the second biggest

external employment destination for local residents) and in services between Windsor and Slough.

The letter also calls for better interchange links between the Marlow branch line and the mainline trains from Maidenhead station to avoid unacceptably long waiting times.

Maidenhead Cllr Wood added: "We are also extremely concerned at the potential impact of the new timetable on both traffic congestion and air quality if more people start driving to and from work instead of using the train."

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead