Just 8 new carriages for FGW

Only 52 of the 1,300 carriages to be introduced nationwide in 2010 will be allocated to First Great Western, which operates services across the South West and to London.
But the real number of carriages dedicated to the South West will be in single figures.
Twenty carriages are destined for First’s operations in London and the Thames Valley while a further 24, currently on hire from other train operators, have to be returned in 2010.
That leaves just eight new carriages to serve a network which has seen a 15 per cent increase in passenger numbers in the past 18 months.