LETTER: Good train connections are vital

I urge South Western Railway to retain the present Weymouth to Waterloo timetable.

This comprises one fast train, serving the main stations, one semi-fast serving all stations to Poole, then larger and main stations thereafter, including useful Clapham Junction connections and from Poole a stopping train, serving all stations to Farnborough and then larger and main stations.

This gives all stations a regular service, which the public have got used to. The same applies in the opposite direction.

In both directions the fast, semifast and stopping trains all operate on an hourly basis providing two trains an hour between Weymouth and Waterloo and three between Poole and Farnborough and on to Waterloo.

Passengers from the Weymouth line needing Portsmouth require good connections at Southampton Central.

Essential connections at Southampton Central are needed for Southern services to Chichester etc, Great Western services to Salisbury, Bristol and Cardiff and Cross Country services to the Midlands and the North.

Good Cross Country service connections are also essential at Bournemouth.

It is vital that train operating companies work together on good train connections.

The last thing passengers want on the Weymouth to Waterloo line is the hassle of changing trains to reach Waterloo. Where change of train is needed, those using the smaller stations, served only by the stopping trains, simply change at the appropriate larger station, to the fast or semi-fast train to Waterloo, the reverse applying in the opposite direction.

To change a well-established train service on the Weymouth to Waterloo line would create the worst possible travel scenario.

The current timetable, is, in my opinion, the best train service the Weymouth to Waterloo route has ever had.

I strongly urge South Western Railway not to change it.

Peter Foster
Dorchester