Rail firm First Great Western, which runs the local mainline service into Paddington, has threatened an official passenger watchdog with legal action over comments it has made about its service.

London Travel Watch had written to the railway minister to ask whether the company was in breach of its franchise because of its poor punctuality record. First Group's passenger charter states that 92% of its trains should run on time but only 68.3% actually do. Its long distance services are also the worst performing in the country.
The letter pointed to a doubling in the number of complaints about the service and levels of overcrowding that were twice as bad as the London average.

Brian Cooke, chairman of London TravelWatch, had met several time this year with First Great Western to urge them to take steps to improve their service but, when no improvements were forthcoming, the watchdog's board voted unanimously to ask the Department for Transport to consider terminating the franchise. A copy of the letter was sent to First Great Western's Chairman, Moir Lockhead, who put it in the hands of the company's solicitors, Slaughter and May. They in turn wrote to Mr. Cooke calling the letter defamatory.

First Group have to pay over £2 billion over the next decade to continue operating the two franchises it currently owns. Without this the Government's transport budget would be under severe stress.

Mr. Cooke, said: "We were amazed when we heard from First Group's solicitors and still believe our letter to the DfT was entirely accurate and based on the most recent confirmed data available. We have a legal obligation, under the Greater London Authority Act, to report any possible breaches of franchise agreements to the DfT, and we were only fulfilling that legal obligation. It is simply astonishing that we should be threatened for performing our statutory role. However, subsequent meetings with FGW have proved valuable and we believe they are now putting in place actions that should bring about an improvement for passengers very soon."

A First Group spokesman said: “We had made clear to London Travelwatch repeatedly that certain things they were saying had no basis. We are within our rights to defend our reputation.”