Commuters welcomed extra seats provided on a rush-hour service from Oxford to London yesterday, but are still demanding further improvements.

Last week, First Great Western announced the second round of changes to its timetables so far this year, which took effect yesterday.

The firm infuriated passengers at the end of last year, by cutting the number of morning peak fast trains from Oxford to the capital from six to three. A month later, FGW was forced to bow to public pressure and introduced an extra fast train at 7.33am and speeded up the 6.45am departure.

Changes yesterday included the provision of more than 200 extra seats on the 7.33am service, by introducing a High Speed Train in place of an Adelante unit, while the 5.55am Oxford to Paddington service was doubled in size to 10 coaches, and now departs at 5.51am, calling at Radley at 5.58am and Didcot at 6.07am.

"I got a double seat all to myself all the way to London, which is absolutely unheard of," said Susan Westlake, whose petition against timetable changes last December led to the creation of passenger campaign group Ox Rail Action.

While welcoming the changes, Ms Westlake said: "Oxford commuters desperately need more seats on the 7.05am service, and there are other concerns we're hoping to address at a meeting with managers."

FGW spokesman Adrian Ruck said: "The reaction we have been getting is that passengers are generally very happy with the changes we have made.

"We will continue to monitor services for passengers from Oxford and Didcot as we review and modify the timetable."

The firm is planning more minor changes in May, with a major overhaul of its timetables in December.