THE leader of a major initiative to promote Swindon praised the upcoming railway timetable update.

Switch On To Swindon brings members of the town's business, political and social communities together to brainstorm ways to highlight its strengths and help it grow.

Switch On To Swindon's chair Jenny Groves thinks the extra seats and services on faster journeys to and from London will be hugely beneficial for the town.

She said: “One of Swindon’s strengths is that it’s already well-connected so it’s exciting to see that it will be even better-connected with faster services – and more of them available than before.

“Anything that helps businesses reduce people’s commute times can only be a good thing for Swindon companies and commuters.

“With affordable housing, shorter commute times and great lifestyle opportunities, Swindon will attract more people to live and work here.

“I’m also looking forward to hearing how the plans for the station redevelopment mature. There are a number of challenges ahead but it’s going to be exciting.”

The SOTS campaign includes a technology-focused project known as TechSwindon to bring together digitech businesses of all shapes and sizes and culminate in a major summit at Steam next year that aims to attract companies from all over the country - and even the world.