AN ANCESTOR of the Victorian engineer Brunel has passed through Hayes and Harlington while retracing the route of the Great Western Railway.

Isambard Thomas, who is the great-great-great grandson of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is walking parts of the line to celebrate the biggest investment in the rail system since it was built 180 years ago.

Mr Thomas visited the EMI Group Archive Trust along his way on Wednesday.

Alan Blumlein, the man who invented the stereo while working for EMI in the 1930s, used footage of Great Western Railway (GWR) trains in the first film ever to feature stereo sound, filming from a window in Hayes’ EMI offices.

The inventor’s son, Simon Blumlein, spoke with Mr Thomas during his visit about their respective ancestors’ historical link.

Mr Blumlein said: “My father was a railway enthusiast and GWR played a role in his experiments while he was inventing his stereo system.”

Jackie Bishop from EMI said: “We feel a close affinity with Great Western Railway.

“The line helped to connect us with our customers and music fans in the capital and we’re looking forward to seeing the improvements take place.”

First Great Western said a record £7.5 billion had been put aside by Network Rail to deliver new or modernised trains, all with free wi-fi, on every area of their network by December 2018.

Ben Rule, operations director at GWR, said: “It will mean new trains, faster, more frequent services and more seats for all our customers.”

This news will be music to the ears of commuters of the First Great Western 7.02am Paddington service from Reading, which was listed as one of the most overcrowded trains in Britain in a study based on 2014 figures from the Department for Transport.