Commuter Rory Webster has set up his own train service to take passengers between Westbury and London Paddington.

Mr Webster's Trotter Trains service is scheduled to begin on January 1 2005 and will rival operator First Great Western.

The 56-year-old entrepreneur will lease two trains, which will leave Westbury at 5am and 6am each day. The earliest First Great Western train departs at 7.05am and Mr Webster, a long-suffering passenger of 27 years, believes commuters are crying out for what he is offering.

He said: "I'm just an ordinary man in the street with a desire to see things work better. There's no consideration for the traveller at the moment. We might as well be meat. As far as I am aware, this will be the first train service of its kind in the country.

"There is a lot of investment necessary to lease the rolling stock and engines, track rental, siding rental, maintenance, cleaning, ticket printing and so on. But I have been very encouraged by the amount of interest that has been shown in the project.

"I shall be the Fat Controller and will be responsible for the running of the service, at least until it gets off the ground. Hopefully this will appeal to the poor souls who currently flog down to Andover to get a train early enough to get them into work on time."

Mr Webster, who lives in Sharcott, near Pewsey, with his wife Inga and their four children, has received plenty of support from Wiltshire commuters. He has called the service Trotter Trains to distinguish it from Sprinter Trains and it will gain revenue from the sale of shares and merchandise.

Return tickets, which will be available on board, will cost £33, £24 cheaper than First Great Western's prices and there will be the option to buy season tickets.

Trotter Trains will offer two return services, leaving Paddington at 6.45pm and 9.30am and arriving in Westbury at 8.10pm and 10.50pm.

He said: "Even if all this comes to nothing more than waking First Great Western up to the fact that there's a demand for earlier trains, then I will have achieved something."