It currently takes just under three hours to travel from London Paddington to Swansea on First Great Western. A £7.5 billion package of improvements, which will include line electrification, the introduction of Super Express trains, greater capacity and increased number of services, will slash the journey time by 20 minutes in 2018, while London-Cardiff will drop to a speedy 1 hour 45 minutes.

But how do property prices compare as you move further west? To find out, we looked at what you can buy for around £850,000 in or near eight stops along the line.

London Paddington

'At the top of the line, properties in Paddington will, of course, be less affordable than those in the countryside, but they benefit from being fantastically well connected, with a plethora of shops and restaurants on their doorstep. Paddington is currently the focus of a number of property developers, so it is one to keep an eye on for investment with strong capital growth expected.' Oliver Lurot, Savills Notting Hill