OVERCROWDED and late: that is the picture that emerges from new figures on train services from Oxford to London.

Train operator First Great Western has admitted punctuality of its services between Oxford and London services has slipped, while two rush-hour trains from Oxfordshire to the capital are officially rated as among the most overcrowded in the country.

Despite that, the cost of an Oxford to London annual season ticket went up by £224 at the start of the month, to £4,104. A peak-time day return to the capital is £51.

The Office of Rail Regulation this week revealed that in the rush hours, FGW’s Thames Valley commuter services operated at 8.2 per cent above capacity in 2009, up from 6.5 per cent above capacity the previous year. The figures, collected during one-off surveys in 2009, rank FGW as the most overcrowded train operator in the country.

Punctuality has also got worse. Between July and September last year, 13.7 per cent of Thames Valley rush-hour trains were late, compared with 7.3 per cent in 2009.

Stanley Skoglund, of Oxford commuter group OxRail Action, said: “The 7.31am is packed from Oxford and it has not improved. Over the past six months in particular, the service has been abysmal. It’s an absolute shambles, which we have made clear to First Great Western.

“Punctuality has gone down dramatically. Yet in that context, fares have gone up uncontrollably.”

FGW spokesman Dan Panes admitted too many trains had been late or cancelled in recent months.

He said: “There have been pretty significant infrastructure issues, the majority of them one-offs, on the London and Thames Valley patch, and we’re concerned about it. That includes signal failures, power losses and cable thefts.

“We know Network Rail is working hard to address these and we have seen the number of incidents decline recently.”

He said First Great Western had been negotiating with the Department for Transport for two years to try to secure extra rolling stock. Some trains may become available in the near future, but none was available to lengthen commuter trains at present.

According to a snapshot of the service taken in autumn 2009, published after a Freedom of Information request to the Department for Transport, the 7.10am service (now the 7.09) from Oxford to London Paddington was carrying 171 more passengers than the 395 seats available, making it the ninth most overcrowded service on the network.

The 6.12am service from Didcot Parkway to London was the nation’s most overcrowded in 2009, with 62 per cent more passengers than it could cater for. A High Speed Train which offers extra seats is now operating this service.

Seven of the 10 most overcrowded services in the DfT list were operated by FGW.

There is no official upper safety limit on how many passengers can ride on a train.

The most recent National Passenger Survey by the watchdog Passenger Focus, found 18.6 per cent of FGW passengers said there was not sufficient room to sit or stand.

Network Rail spokesman Russell Spink said: “Train performance across the country has taken a hit in recent months, mainly due to the poor autumn and winter weather.

“Yesterday, more than nine out of 10 First Great Western services reached their destination on time, which is consistent with FGW’s performance over the last 12 months.

“This is good, but working together with our colleagues at FGW, we know we can do better.”

  • Having seen the overcrowding figures, I arrived at Oxford station fearing an almighty ruckus to get a seat, writes Liam Sloan.

So having bought my £51 day return ticket, I was surprised to find just 30 other commuters boarding the 7.09am to London.

But the train soon began to fill up as it stopped at the smaller Oxfordshire and Berkshire stations on its way towards London: Cholsey, Goring & Streatley, Tilehurst and Pangbourne.

At Maidenhead, the train became seriously over-crowded. Commuters flooded on board, resigned to standing for the 25-minute run to the capital.

Regular passenger Mark Clements, 56, told me he no longer bothered looking for a seat. He said: “Although I think it’s more crowded now, there wasn’t a halcyon age of commuting.

“People were moaning in the 1980s and 90s.”