13794/2POSSIBLY the first-ever private train service in the country is on line to start in the New Year after Pewsey businessman Rory Webster received an encouraging reaction from local commuters.

Mr Webster has now set an expected start date of January 1 2005 for Trotter Trains' first journey from Pewsey station to London Paddington with just one stop at Reading to connect with the service to Heathrow Airport.

Trotter Trains, so called to distinguish it from Sprinter Trains, will lease two complete trains, each comprising eight former first class compartment carriages plus crew and servicing arrangements.

Mr Webster, who calls himself 'the Fat Controller' after the character in the Thomas the Tank Engine stories, said the trains will park overnight at Westbury station and pick up local passengers every weekday at 5am and 6am.

They will then travel on to Pewsey station, arriving at 5.20am and 6.20am. Day return tickets will be sold on the train though season tickets can be bought in advance.

Evening trains will depart from Paddington at 6.45pm and 9.30pm to Pewsey and Westbury every weekday, arriving at 7.50pm and 10.30pm at Pewsey and 8.10pm and 10.50pm at Westbury.

Mr Webster, who lives in Sharcott and runs a data information business at Fordbrook business park, set up the service because he was aware that the current service offered by First Great Western Trains ran too late and not often enough to cater for the needs of Pewsey commuters headed for London.

He said: "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."

Revenue for the service will come from the sale of shares in Trotter Trains, which Mr Webster insists has nothing to do with characters in Only Fools and Horses. Investors and their families will get free travel for a period and hopefully a dividend in the second year of operation.

Travellers who buy a one-year season ticket will not only be supporting the service, but will also be in line for a dividend in year two.

Although ticket prices have not yet been fixed, Mr Webster hopes they will be significantly lower than those charged by the franchise holder First Great Western. But he does not want to put the bigger company's nose out of joint as he is hoping to set up relations beneficial to both.

He said: "First Great Western are often short of rolling stock so, from 7.30am each weekday we will be offering our trains to them to lease until 6.40pm.

"I hope they are not going to try to force us out. I can't think they would as it would go against the whole concept of a free market on the railways."

Another source of revenue for Trotter Trains will be the sale of beverages, T-shirts and gadgets on the trains. Catering on the trains will either be carried out by teams of specially recruited young people or franchised out to a young local entrepreneur.

Having established the need and support for the service, Mr Webster and his team are now going full steam ahead on the project, establishing the true cost of running the service, approaching companies to lease them the rolling stock and other equipment and organising lease agreements.

He said: "Nothing I am doing is new but as far as I am aware, there is no other private train service like this operating anywhere else in the country.

"From that point of view, Trotter Trains is unique and Pewsey is leading the country in public transport."