Platform poetry

4:41pm Friday 10th August 2007

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First Great Western has appointed a performance poet to keep passengers entertained as they wait for their trains.

Sally Crabtree has been chosen as the first official Poet on the Platform by the train company.

But an Oxford commuter group described the move as "completely ridiculous" and urged the company to invest in improving its services instead.

Susan Westlake, a spokesman for Ox Rail Action, said: "It made me laugh when I heard about this.

"If trains are delayed when this poet is performing, I don't think passengers will be too impressed."

From Tuesday to Friday next week, Ms Crabtree, 42, will undertake a whistlestop tour of FGW stations. She will be at Oxford from 2.30pm to 4.30pm on Tuesday.

She has worked in libraries and schools around the UK and is committed to making poetry "vibrant and accessible" and taking it into unexpected places.

Explaining the attraction of performing at stations, the poet said: "The response is usually very positive. A lot of people are very stressed and I don't interrupt passengers who obviously want to get on their way."

Ms Crabtree will set up her "Poetree" on the station platforms - a copper tree decorated with many objects, inviting any passengers who wish to do so to choose one, which will be the source of inspiration for a poem or song which she will serenade them with.

Mock train tickets inscribed with poems will also be given away to rail passengers and station staff.