Rail passengers in Oxfordshire are calling for improved services if the controversial £200m sale of Great Western goes ahead.

Britain's biggest bus company, FirstGroup, is planning to take over the running of the Great Western route from Great Western Holdings - despite an attempt by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to block the sale which is likely to make millionaires out of former British Rail managers.

GWR, which runs trains via Oxfordshire from London Paddington to the West Country and South Wales, has been dubbed 'Late Western' because of poor punctuality.

The Audit Office has accused the former Conservative government of selling off rail operating companies, including Great Western, for £700m less than they were worth.

The National Audit Office reckons that in total, tax payers received £10bn less than they should have from the sale of public assets. South and West Transport Action, which campaigns for lines to remain open and for improved rail services, said things could only get better under a new owner.

Secretary of the pressure group Lyndon Elias, of Didcot, described the present Great Western services as "appalling with an abysmal record of punctuality and bad connections".

Mr Elias said a typical example occurred last week when his Great Western train pulled into Didcot Parkway as a Thames Train service was departing for Oxford, leaving 30 Oxford-bound passengers stranded at Didcot.

There was "unimaginative" time-tabling, he said - for example, why was there no GWR service to Waterloo for passengers to connect to the Eurostar cross-channel service?

"The managers of Great Western Railway should all be lined up and shot," declared Mr Elias.

A spokesman for GWR refused to comment on the takeover.franchising director Mr John O'Brien announced he had secured a £75m package of passenger benefits and investments covering the Great Western and two other franchises because of the deal.

"In particular, I have been concerned about the performance of Great Western trains where punctuality has been poor," said Mr O'Brien who has pledged to fine FirstGroup for poor service.

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