HIGH speed electric trains pulled into Swindon railway station for the first time yesterday morning.

Rail bosses hailed the event as an important landmark in the £6 billion scheme to electrify the Great Western line.

But there were apologies, too, for Swindon residents and commuters caught up in the engineering works to install new overhead wires and improve Victorian bridges.

Mark Langman, regional director for Network Rail in the west of England, said: “Upgrading the Swindon mainline has been hugely challenging. Thank you to the residents of Swindon, many of whom are our lineside neighbours. Many of them have had enough sleepless nights.”

He also apologised to those whose trains had been delayed by engineering works or recent signalling fault: “I want to assure you we are absolutely focussed on returning the railway to what people want. On time, reliable and they want to get a seat.”

New Hitachi electric trains will run between Didcot Parkway and Swindon. It is expected the hybrid-fuel trains will run on overhead wires from Swindon to Bristol Parkway next year. A scheme for the electrification of the line between Chippenham and Bristol Temple Meads was temporarily shelved by government in 2016, with no clear idea of when it might be complete.

Great Western Railway boss Matthew Golton said the electrification project was “the biggest upgrade to the railway since the time of Brunel”.

He added: “The trains will be arriving in Swindon quicker than they do today. Next year we are introducing a timetable that will enable us to deliver more trains per hour and more seats. This is part of a progressive change.” The new timetable is expected to come into force by December 2019.

A new train crew depot being built by Swindon station would provide extra jobs, Mr Golton added.

Coun Maureen Penny, Swindon Borough Council’s cabinet member for transport, welcomed the prospect of faster travel: “We have such a lot of commuters in Swindon. We are becoming a commuterland.

“A 45 minute journey into London is going to make all those people’s lives so much easier. When Brunel first started building the railway it took about four days to get to London. Now it will be 45 minutes.”

Swindon mayor, Coun Junab Ali, said the electrification project was putting the town on the map. But the councillor, who owns an electrical engineering firm, called on the rail companies to cut their fares: “Bringing the prices down makes businesses more efficient.” Rail chiefs said they were continually looking at how to provide competitive fares.

At Swindon railway station yesterday, commuters and trainspotters were taking pictures of the new trains pulling into the platform from Didcot. Michael Wilks, 67, of Ridgeway Farm, called the new trains brilliant: “They’re cleaner, faster and it’s better to use electricity than dirty diesel.”