Cuts made to Weymouth rail services ahead of busy summer season
The moves been described as 'ridiculous'
More rail seats from the north into Weymouth will be lost this summer – as Dorset gets set for the busiest year ever for home holidays.
A ‘seaside special’ which runs through Gillingham and Sherborne to Weymouth is to disappear from the South Western Railway schedule – a move described by one Dorset councillor as ‘ridiculous.’
On the other local line, despite pledges from Great Western Railway that its timetable will remain the same as the pre-covid service between Bristol and Weymouth – further investigation has revealed that the line will lose seat spaces because of a switch to different types of train, combined with a run of engineering works, including some in the peak months.
West Dorset MP Chris Loder, a former rail manager, says he is shocked by some of the decisions – especially while rail travel continues to be subsidised by the Government. He says this year he would have expected to see increased services to deal with the expected surge in travellers.
The news comes after timetable reductions on the South Western Railway Waterloo to Weymouth line from May onwards which will make late and early travel impossible for many and could result in crowded trains at other times.
Several commuters have taken to social media to say they will no longer be able to support Saints at Southampton home games without driving, or get to early meetings in London or Southampton, or to come back late from trips to the capital.
Said Dorset councillor and Sherborne Mayor Jon Andrews about the loss of the summer only seaside special train:
“This is a ridiculous … That would probably have been the only well used service this summer. When a lot of focus is on climate change they ought to be running trains to Weymouth during the week in the school summer holidays to keep traffic off the roads.”
Fellow Dorset and Sherborne councillor Matt Hall is also unhappy:
“This is extremely disappointing as the service was well used by residents of Sherborne. For many this was a cost-effective way of travelling to the coast for a day out with the family and I hope South Western Railway would think again.”
On the GWR Bristol to Weymouth line the company says that its ‘Weymouth Wizard’ summer timetable will remain as before although the company has switched from HST to turbo or county class trains on the route which MP Chris Loder says will have a reduced capacity compared to trains which were used pre-pandemic.
A GWR spokesman said that although the Weymouth bound service levels remains as before:
“in terms of capacity (seat numbers), it is likely to be slightly less by the nature of the rolling stock available to us (for example we need even more trains when there are engineering works), and demand for the route we are able to operate it on.”
In addition the line through Bristol will suffer from engineering work from July 10 to August 8th and then again from August 9th to September 3rd. For part of this period Weymouth trains will terminate at Bristol Temple Meads, Westbury or Bath.
Although bus replacements are expected be available the normal reaction to ‘replacement services’ from some passengers is that they choose not to travel on the affected dates.
Full detail here: https://www.gwr.com/travel-updates/planned-engineering/bristol
West Dorset MP Chris Loder has discussed his concerns about the line and summer services with the Prime Minister, following a meeting with rail officials and South Dorset MP, Richard Drax, in Weymouth.
The MPs say they want action to improve what Mr Loder describes as “extraordinarily poor condition of our rail stations in Dorchester and Weymouth to make sure they are fit for purpose.”
Said the West Dorset MP:
“Our stations in Dorchester and Weymouth are in a disgusting state and it’s about time we got them sorted out, especially as summer is coming and we want to welcome as many people as possible in our coronavirus recovery effort”.
He said all parties have committed to look at options for work to take place as soon as possible, including the refurbishment of Weymouth Station, the demolition of the disused parcels facility at Dorchester South and the replacement of a boundary fence between the railway line in Dorchester and Alfred Road, previously featured in local news stories after part of the station wall fell down.