AN engineering workshop in the Scottish town of Kilmarnock may seem an unlikely place to find the answer to Wiltshire commuters’ prayers.

But work being carried out there will soon ease the squeeze on busy rush-hour Trains serving Swindon.

Extra rolling stock for train operator First Great Western is being converted in Kilmarnock by Wabtec Rail Scotland, with the coaches due to enter service between July and September.

Fifteen redundant buffet cars are being turned into standard class passenger coaches, which will add an extra 84 seats to many of FGW’s High Speed Trains. Four other trains will be extended by using spare coaches.

The extra coach will mean a 20 per cent increase in the number of standard class seats on the lengthened trains.

In Swindon, trains will be increased from seven to eight carriages on eight peak services – six into London in the morning and two out of London in the evening.

Last summer, the Department for Transport revealed that the 10 most overcrowded commuter trains operating around London were all FGW services to or from Paddington station.

Although work by Network Rail to electrify the Great Western main line to Swindon, Bristol and Cardiff is expected to start next year, bringing the prospect of new electric trains from 2016-17, finding a way to boost capacity in the short term on FGW’s currently diesel-worked routes was not easy.

Lengthy negotiations with the DfT eventually led to a deal for the extra stock last autumn.

FGW managing director Mark Hopwood said: “We had to find a way to add capacity quickly on a railway facing electrification, which meant it was difficult to justify new-build trains.

“The vast majority of the extra capacity will be delivered by the summer, ready for the Olympics, to cope with the additional passengers then.”

He added: “Our customers will see a big increase in the number of seats at the busiest times of the day but there is more to come.

“This is a short-term project but is part of a long-term effort to raise capacity on Great Western routes.”

Wabtec Rail Scotland site director Craig Gibson said the work being carried out by his staff would give the extra HST coaches the look and feel of brand new trains, matching FGW’s existing express fleet.

Robert Buckland, Swindon South MP, said: “Any increase in capacity has got to be good news because I think all of us, myself included, have experienced the difficulty of having to stand on the train, and frankly that’s not good enough.

“And I think the increase in capacity will go some way to ease that pressure.

“But the fact remains that more and more people are using trains which is a good thing and therefore the new franchisee that’s going to come in in a couple of years’ times has got to have value for money and quality of service at the heart of its operations.”

Chris Watts, of Swindon’s Fair Fares Campaign, added: “It’s definitely good news because by the time the trains get to Swindon, they are normally full and it’s standing room only.

“Because of the amount we’re paying for tickets, if that helps us get a seat when we’re travelling into London it’s a bonus.”