WORKERS commuting between Worcester and Gloucester may have to wait at least another year before extra rail services are provided to get them to work on time.

There are currently no trains running between the two cities that allow people to get to work at the start of a normal working day – between 8am and 9am.

The Cotswold Line Promotion Group (CLPG), a voluntary organisation aiming to safeguard and promote rail services, has been campaigning to get services between Worcester and Gloucester improved.

But the new rail timetable, which is due to come in on Sunday, December 14, shows little improvement for people at work between normal office hours wanting to commute by train.

The two morning trains from Worcester will be at 7.09am, arriving in Gloucester at 7.44am and at 8.54am, arriving at 9.41am.

Anyone living in Gloucester but working in Worcester will have a choice of the 7.15am from Gloucester arriving at 7.58am or the 9.38am arriving in Worcester at 10.18am.

Vice-chairman of the CLPG John Ellis said they had been negotiating with First Great Western and London Midland this year to try to get an hourly service between the two cities.

“We made some headway,” he said.

“The rest of the time there is an hourly service which is shared between First Great Western and London Midland but neither of them had the resources to provide that critical service.

“There is the highest demand for rolling stock everywhere else at that time.

“The demand on the Worcester to Birmingham service is even greater than between Worcester and Gloucester.

“We had hoped they would be able to find something but we have to accept that it is not possible this time around.

“To get the two companies to agree on a common approach and then to get the Department of Transport to agree is quite an achievement.

“We shall keep pressing for it and there is an adjustment to the timetable in May – but it is unlikely anything will happen until next December.”