Maidenhead & Windsor

The Royal Windsor and Maidenhead Borough is to demand immediate action from First Great Western to improve their train services for residents in the wake of reports that one in five trains run at least ten minutes late.

Windsor and Maidenhead Councillors unanimously supported a motion from Cllr Simon Dudley noting the "poor performance" of First Great Western and highlighting a government requirement for the train operator to produce a remedial plan to rectify their performance and "improve their failing service".

The motion – part of the council's ongoing lobbying of First Great Western – proposed that the council's views be expressed to both First Great Western and the Department for Transport.

Cllr Dudley, chairman of Maidenhead Town Forum, said: "We are determined to continue to lobby First Great Western to ensure that they significantly improve the services they provide to our residents.

"Although we are told that one in five trains run more than ten minutes late, in practice many more trains on these lines are late, causing misery and inconvenience to many people from the Royal Borough who commute into London and in the other direction to the West Country every day.

"We successfully lobbied for improvements to the entrance to Maidenhead station where First Great Western are intending to invest more than £1million in upgrading the station, and this work is currently underway as regular users of the station will have seen. Now we are committed to keeping up the pressure for a better service for everyone who uses the trains."

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead