FIRST Great Western has yet to convince all the people who matter that it has made a "significant improvement".

The Strategic Rail Authority's On Track Report ranked the Swindon company above average in a series of key issues including the frequency of trains, journey times and punctuality.

But not all travellers at Swindon Station last night were convinced.

Ian Medland, 33, from Bristol said: "I have found that services are not so bad in the morning, but too many services are either cancelled outright or are a good 15 to 20 minutes late. First Great Western is definitely not as bad as Virgin and the service is not as bad as it was a couple of years ago, but it certainly has got a long way to go."

Carol Blair, 49, from Marlborough, added: "I've just come back from the Midlands and while the service may have improved it still has a long way to go."

But one train user was satisfied.

Deirdre Rudman, 59, of Priory Road, Park North, said: "I've always been impressed that there is a porter to help people with their bags. I've not really had a bad experience the journeys are always pretty comfortable. The only real problem I have ever had is with buying a ticket."

The SRA ranked First Great Western above average for Inter City operators in 10 out of 12 key issues.

The report, which covers October 2001 to March 2002, found more than 80 per cent of customers were very or fairly satisfied with their journey experience.

It also showed a slight rise in punctuality, with four per cent more trains arriving within 10 minutes of their scheduled time compared to the previous six months.

Elaine Holt of First Great Western said: "This survey shows that although we have taken action to improve our performance, stations, on-train service and customer communication, we still need to do even better.

"Customer satisfaction may be on the up and higher than many other train companies but it is still not high enough.

"It may sound bizarre for us to be disappointed with a rise in punctuality and customer satisfaction, but the truth is both these figures are still too low."

Yesterday's (Thursday) 3.01pm First Great Western service to London Paddington was cancelled because of flooding on the line.

Glyn Stead, 53 of Whitby, North Yorkshire, who was visiting Swindon, said: "The standard of carriage is better than it used to be.

"I would say that things have generally improved, but there are simply not enough services and the cost of travelling on the railways is so expensive."

His wife, Anne Stead, 48, added: "If train operators really want to encourage more people to use their services then they need to lower the fares.

"Travelling by rail is still one of the safest forms of transport. If it was made an attractive option with more trains running, less cancellations and reduced fares then I think more people would use them."

David Cutts, 53, from London, who was in Swindon on business, said: "My experience is that trains are late more often than not. The train I wanted to catch to Swindon was cancelled, which just about sums it all up.

"It's not an overwhelming experience and I would say First Great Western has a long way to go yet."

"However, anything is better than travelling on Virgin trains they are always late."

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