Too many "than"s?

[Curt Jugg]

Network Rail's website contains the following statement: "We're running more than 1,000 extra trains each week than we were 5 years ago". That sentence sounds a bit odd to me. Does anyone agree?

 

[5jj]

Better would be: "We're running over 1,000 more extra trains each week than we were 5 years ago".

I am assuming that there were more extra trains. If there were just more trains (including extra trains), then we'd need to delete 'extra'.

 

[Curt Jugg]

Yes, that's a better sentence. Would you go so far as to say that the original sentence is wrong?

 

[5jj]

Yes, that's a better sentence. Would you go so far as to say that the original sentence is wrong?

It depends on what they mean exactly, but it is clumsy at best.

 

[Curt Jugg]

OK. Thanks.