Drivers employed by Swindon-based First Great Western will now be trained using a ground-breaking virtual reality simulator.

The replica of the High Speed Train cab will be used to recreate hundreds of scenarios faced by drivers every day, including weather hazards, infrastructure problems, vandalism and mechanical failures.

FGW managing director Alison Forster said: "This is an exciting development in the way we train our drivers.

"It will increase driver knowledge and awareness in all areas and we will also be able to provide additional training to other staff such as train managers."

The simulator is a full-size copy of a High Speed Train power car and has every control, indicator and safety warning system. Drivers even feel as if they are braking as the seat moves to recreate movement.

Trainee drivers face a 4m by 3.7m video screen on which real-time pictures of the Great Western railway are projected, with full surround sound, featuring real-life internal and external noises.

There are hundreds of realistic and believable scenarios, played out as if on the Great Western railway network.

The driver is monitored by an instructor who can watch CCTV footage and review the decisions he makes through via a computer screen.

The simulator has been developed with software firm Bentley Systems and Primary Image, who are experts in advanced driver training and assessment systems.

Ted Stephens, rail project director for Bentley, said: "First Great Western's vision for the simulator required faithful replication of the train cab and an accurately detailed, three-dimensional, virtual model of the railway infrastructure.

"Bentley's rail design software, used on major projects worldwide, allowed us to deliver a driver training and assessment solution with precise modelling and visualisation."

First Great Western's simulators are based at Reading, Bristol and Plymouth. First Great Western employs 350 drivers.