COMPANY chairman Rory St John Webster has come up with an idea for a better train service from Pewsey with passengers chartering their own.

Mr St John Webster lives at Sharcott and runs a data information business from the Fordbrook business park.

His business takes him to London three or four times a week and he has found that the earliest train is not early enough for many commuters, himself included.

Currently the earliest Great Western service calls at Pewsey at 7.24am, getting passengers to London by 8.40am.

Mr St John Webster said many commuters have told him they need to be in London much sooner.

He said the Pewsey station has been losing business because people travel to Andover or Swindon where they can catch trains getting them to the capital earlier.

He has hit on the idea of leasing carriages and an engine and crew to run a Pewsey-Paddington service every morning and back at night. Track time would be leased from Network Rail.

It is proposed the up train should leave Pewsey at 6.30am, getting into London at about 7.40am, with a return service from Paddington at 6.45pm, getting commuters back to Pewsey shortly before 8pm.

Commuters are beginning to respond, he said, to leaflets he has put around Pewsey and at the station.

He has even given the service the name of Trotter Trains, which he is quick to emphasise is nothing to do with Del Boy from Only Fools and Horses but because the service would get passengers to London at a trot.

First Great Western was unable to provide the earlier service because all of its trains started from Penzance or Taunton, which dictated service times.

Mr St John Webster is suggesting that scheme could be financed by selling shares to supporters who would travel free for an initial period, as well as the sale of tickets to others.

He said that if the idea did take off in Pewsey, it could well set a pattern for similar services in other parts of the country.

Anyone interested in supporting the idea is asked to contact Mr St John Webster by e-mail at: r.webster@ecapitaltrack.com.