First Great Western has this morning hit back at claims it is removing quiet carriages from all its trains.

A First Great Western spokesman said: "There will be a quiet carriage on all our High Speed Trains for the foreseeable future. Claims that there will be no solace for customers who want a quieter journey are simply unfounded."

CrossCountry trains issued a press release last week saying the company was removing quiet carriages completely from its trains.

And First Great Western will scrap its First Class quiet carriage when the company's redesigned First Class carriages come into service in the coming months.

The company is converting some First Class carriages into Standard carriages on all its long distance trains, which will only leave one and a half First Class carriages.

James Davis, First Great Western spokesman, said: "To make one of those carriages 'quiet' would be madness, but it is a practical decision based on the need to increase the number of standard seats on our services.

"The renewed First Class carriages will instead be fitted with specially designed headrests and partition screens to keep noise levels to a minimum.

"The changes are happening as part of a range of investments on High Speed Trains for customers worth more than £13 million currently taking place. These include additional standard class seats with more tables for customers and free wi-fi from early 2015."