Rail passengers may have to “up the ante” to secure an all-day hourly train service between Oxford and Worcester, according to the chairman of the Cotswold Line Promotion Group.

John Ellis, a former senior manager with British Rail, told the group’s annual meeting on Saturday that the new timetable planned for September, once Network Rail’s £67m track redoubling project is complete, fell “considerably short of our objective of a regular hourly service”.

He added: “We think there is a lot of scope to improve journey times and frequencies without significant additional costs, and that the natural demand on the line is being suppressed by the present inadequacies.”

He told the meeting held at Moreton-in-Marsh: “I would welcome your views as to whether we should ‘up the ante’ on pressing for early improvements.”

Responding to Mr Ellis’s remarks, Mark Hopwood, the managing director of First Great Western, which runs the line’s passenger services, told the audience: “We’re delivering substantial reductions in journey times from September, and the new timetable is a very positive step forward.”

He added that the Department for Transport had decided not to rewrite the minimum service commitment for the line, so it was “not possible to get the timetable changes many would like to see”.

He said: “We have made as much progress as we can, given the constraints we have to work with.”

Mr Hopwood also said that he was unhappy with the amount of delays caused to trains in the Thames Valley by problems with Network Rail’s track and signals.

“Punctuality and reliability of services between London and Oxford is nowhere near as good as it needs to be,” he added.

l The Cotswold Line will be closed to trains between Oxford and Kingham from tomorrow until Sunday, June 5, for completion of track redoubling work between Charlbury and Ascott-under-Wychwood.

For more information, see firstgreatwestern.co.uk/ northcotswolds