Train operator First Great Western is to give season ticket customers a ten per cent discount to compensate for unreliable service.

The company, which runs trains from Didcot to London Paddington, said punctuality and reliability figures had fallen below the point which triggers a discount under the Passengers' Charter.

The top ten incidents affecting performance between July 22 and August 18 included track and train failures, a vehicle hitting a bridge, children trespassing on the line and a fatality.

Tim Buxton, First Great Western's customer services director, said 5,000 customers would receive the discount, which is £312 on a standard annual season ticket from Didcot, and £468 for first-class passengers.

"This is the first time we have triggered the ten per cent discount and it comes after an extremely difficult year which includes ten months of disruption in connection with gauge corner cracking following the Hatfield crash," he said.

He added: "We announced an £18m package of improvements to services less than two weeks ago and we are now reversing the downward trend."

**Thames Trains has fitted all its 62 trains with the Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) six weeks ahead of schedule. The company runs services through Didcot, Oxford and Banbury.