WHAT a relief it is to hear that First Great Western is promising a near normal service this Christmas.

After the nightmare of the past few weeks, following the Hatfield rail crash and Britain's worst flood crisis, many rail passengers are probably reaching the end of their tether.

Many commuters have no doubt been fearing a Christmas complicated by severe disruption, caused by track repairs and speed restrictions.

While nothing can be taken for granted, First Great Western is at least promising a season filled with some festive cheer, with every service between the West of England and Paddington expected to operate, although journey times probably likely to take longer.

Other services still face some delays depending on the journey and customers will be wise to keep a keen eye on the travel news.

So while things are obviously far from back to 'normal' with many services still facing delays, we can only hope this is the shape of things to come and the New Year will bring more good news for our beleagered commuters.