SWINDON needs to improve its commuter links to its railway station, says train watchdog the Rail Passengers Committee (RPC).

Christine Shine, member of the RPC for the Western England region, says many commuters who travel to work in Newbury or Reading are being tempted to use their cars because of the difficulties in getting to and parking at Swindon Station.

She feels that if the town's park-and-ride services were improved, road congestion in and around Swindon could be reduced, hence cutting pollution as well. "Presently the service is generally aimed at shoppers and workers in the town centre dropping people in Fleming Way. For those people who wish to use the station it is a fair distance.

"It is okay on a good day, but when it is pouring with rain and you have heavy briefcases, it becomes difficult, and tends to lead to commuters to take to their cars for what would be a 30-minute journey by train.

"Using the train, commuters will reduce the numbers of traffic jams and not have to worry about the difficulty of finding a parking space at their destination. By introducing a park-and-ride service, we could improve traffic on the A419 and M4," she said.

The RPC was established by Parliament to act as the voice of rail passengers and defend their interests.

Dennis Grant, chief executive of Swindon Chamber of Commerce, has given his full support to the idea of a park- and-ride. He said: "As a large town, our roads are already heavily congested and we have a railway station which offers services to London every 15 minutes."

Mr Grant said Swindon was ringed with large businesses and organisations which did a lot of business in London and whose staff used the station.

He said: "The problem is that it can be extremely difficult to park. Unless you are prepared to travel at 4am, you can rarely get a parking space in the station car park.

"If we could use the park- and-ride system more effectively that is, bring in a service for commuters from the park-and-rides direct to the railway station the situation would be a lot easier.

"We also need to consider that the park-and-ride closes too early in the evening, and if there are any incidents on the line or in London many people could find themselves after 7pm unable to collect their cars.

"Those people who couldn't park in the station wouldn't have to clog up the town's multi-storeys, which would reduce traffic in the centre."

Swindon Council spokeswoman Sarah Deacon said the council was looking into issue.

"We are talking to the Rail Passengers Committee.

"The town's present park-and-ride sites are designed around local needs, and therefore the timings coincide with people working in Swindon.

"Extending the park-and-ride hours would be very costly and direct benefits to Swindon would be limited," Ms Deacon said.