Whitton residents will still be able to catch fast services to London following a huge community protest.

Last September, South Western Railway (SWR) proposed to remove stops at Whitton from the faster services at peak times to Waterloo.

Nearly 1,000 people signed a petition to oppose the changes, while councillors implored the rail company to backtrack.

Whitton commuters described the proposals as “madness” and that the station was getting “busier every year”.

However, in response to feedback, SWR said: “We aim to ensure three faster peak morning services and three peak evening services calling at Whitton Station.

“This is in addition to the half-hourly Windsor service that will also call.”

Caroline Howe, who started the petition, is “cautiously optimistic” about the news.

She said: “I was very happy to receive the news that SWR are, after all, aiming not to replace some of our fast services with slower ones.

“A lot of work went into getting signatures on the petition, and it really was wonderful to see the community tackling the issue together.

“I will remain cautiously optimistic until we see how the timetables finally look.”

Whitton Councillor Gareth Elliott, who met with the managing director of the rail company on Monday to ensure continued engagement, said: “I am very happy that South Western Railway has taken on board the howls of protest in Whitton and reinstated the peak time semi-fast services.”

SWR has listened to much of the feedback from the consultation, which ran from September 29 to December 22, the decrease in stops at Clapham Junction being the only major point of contention.

Cllr Liz Jaeger, who campaigned at Whitton Station to raise awareness of the consultation and petition, said: “A good train service from Whitton is vitally important and I am delighted that SWR have listened to the community.”

Twickenham MP Sir Vince Cable said thanks to the protests of the community “it looks as if this very unpopular and disruptive proposal for Whitton residents has been stopped”.