From the
Free Press Series:
Chepstow train trial is extended for another year as passenger numbers grow
Cross Country trains has announced their 12-month trial of additional services stopping at Chepstow train station is to be extended to the end of 2012.
The move results from the Government requesting train operators to amend their timetables in advance of next year's 2012 Olympic Games to be hosted in London.
A spokesman for Cross Country Trains has confirmed that the additional trains will now operate until December next year, and monitoring will continue throughout the period.
The move from May 24 will give passengers more opportunity to travel to and from Chepstow, including journeys to Birmingham and Gloucester with an extra 14 Cross Country trains per day.
Chairman of Better Trains for Chepstow, Jim Jenkins, who has been a key driver in the campaign to improve rail services in Chepstow, said he was delighted with the news but added that there would be no let up in pushing to make the services permanent.
He added: "We will continue to lobby for all Cross Country trains to stop at Chepstow, and for Arriva Trains Wales to provide a regular hourly service passengers can depend on."
Mr Jenkins said: "This will give us more of an opportunity for people to get used to the service and make it a success. We will now be doing everything we can to make the extra service permanent."
He plans to meet councillors next week to discuss how to take the campaign forward.
Five years of campaigning by the group kick-started the trial by Cross Country, and a spokesman from the rail company told the Free Press overall journeys have risen by six percent.
