Bedwyn Trains Passenger Group urges rail users to fight Great Western Railway service cuts

Direct rail services from Bedwyn to London are being axed in May.

The move marks a huge reversal in fortune for commuters who campaigned for years for a better service.

The Bedwyn Trains Passenger Group (BTPG) stated: "This will leave us on the worst timetable since June 1992," and urged passengers to protest to Newbury MP Laura Farris.

The closure has been announced because the Department for Transport has told Great Western Railway (GWR) to cut costs.

The axed Paddington direct Inter City Express (IET) off-peak services will be replaced by diesel shuttle services to Newbury.

The BTPG said in a statement: "[To cut costs] GWR have decided to retire older diesel trains in the West Country and replace them with the three IET trains that serve Bedwyn, Hungerford and Kintbury.

"You may recall these trains are something we fought hard for from the announcement, in 2009, of electrification to Newbury to their rollout some 10 years later.

"It was a long fight and in December 2019 we ended up with the best service we ever had."

However, it continued: "... instead we are an easy target and we are being sacrificed again.

"Add to that we often get sacrificed by missed connections at Newbury and it doesn't bode well.

"The direct commuter peak morning service will be fairly good (with stops on through trains), but we will only have two direct trains back in the evening.

"Everything else will be hourly diesel shuttles between Bedwyn and Newbury only, some of which have decent connections to and from Paddington, while some have journey times between Bedwyn and Paddington of up to two hours and in one case more."

Meanwhile the diesel shuttles from Bedwyn will connect in with the Class 387 Paddington to Newbury service.

These latter trains are electric only.

The statement continued: "Ironically our three IET trains (which are bi-mode, running on electric to Newbury and diesel beyond) will be redeployed to a non-electrified area of the network.

"So that’ll be circa £200m of rolling stock designed for electric traction unable to make use of it.

"Additionally the Bedwyn siding was extended, at a cost in excess of £1m, to accommodate the IETs.

"The extension will now be a white elephant."

The group has urged passengers: "Please let us know which trains are currently essential for school and college travel.

"Write to your MP: laura.farris.mp@parliament.uk or danny.kruger.mp@parliament.uk"

For more information, visit info@bedwyntrains.org.uk