Rail sidings could be upgraded

4:54pm Tuesday 13th May 2008

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Facilities at First Great Western's Oxford carriage sidings may be upgraded to help improve reliability of rail services in the county, particularly on the Cotswold Line to Worcester.

Mark Hopwood, the performance director of First Great Western, told the annual meeting of the Cotswold Line Promotion Group, which represents passengers on the route, that he was looking at ways to reduce empty train movements to and from the company's depots in London and Bristol.

Key morning peak services are sometimes caught up in delays many miles away, before the start of their timetabled journeys. Plans could include keeping extra trains overnight at Oxford, Worcester, Hereford or Reading and FGW was looking at how this could be done and the facilities that might be needed.

The sidings at Oxford were last modernised in 1992-93 for Thames Turbo trains.