Sir - Your article Rail commuters to step up campaign over London train (Report, December 15) does not do full justice to the extent of First Great Western's disastrous new timetable, introduced on December 10.
Before this change, there were three early morning trains from Oxford to Paddington (at 0600, 0631 and 0645) with a total seating capacity of approximately 1,000. Two of these trains started at Oxford.
These have been replaced with one train at 0638 with a maximum seating capacity of 285. This starts its journey at Moreton-in- Marsh so arrives at Oxford with at least 50 to 60 of these seats taken. Just quite what elegant mathematics the planners at FGW used is beyond me.
Couple the crowding this has caused with FGW's rude, unhelpful and poorly trained station and train staff, throw in their dirty, hot and noisy trains and this successfully converts what was always a poor journey into an absolute disgrace - and I travel 'First' class!
David Miller, Oxford
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